Despite challengers’ loud cries for change in Macon County leadership, voters have given incumbents Ronnie Beale (Democrat) and Gary Shields (Republican) another four-year term on the board of commissioners.

With six candidates running for three seats on the Swain County Board of Commissioners, it was a close call Tuesday night as election results began to roll in.

Haywood County’s board of commissioners consists of five members, three of whom are up for election Nov. 6. All three of those seats are currently held by Democratic commissioners. One of them, Bill Upton, isn’t seeking re-election. 

The only two seats that aren’t up for election on Haywood County’s five-member board of commissioners this November are both held by Republicans. The other three are currently held by Democrats, and have attracted two Democratic incumbents as well as a third Dem candidate seeking to maintain that majority. 

Two incumbent candidates running for re-election to the Macon County Board of Commissioners say they want to see the current board’s progress continue, but the two challengers — one Republican and one Democrat — say the county is moving in the wrong direction. 

Ron Mau is still in the midst of his first term on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, started in 2016, but this November he’s challenging incumbent Chairman Brian McMahan in McMahan’s bid for re-election. 

Six candidates are campaigning for three open seats on the Swain County Board of Commissioners — four of the candidates are competing for two seat while the other two are competing to fill a two-year unexpired seat left vacant by the death of David Monteith. 

More than a year after a contentious public comment session during which the Haywood County Board of Commissioners weighed the pros and cons of having the state’s only elected tax collector, there’s no sign any change is coming despite the dispute still smoldering.

Jackson County commissioners are back to square one after voting to abolish the newly consolidated human services agency and its newly seated board Monday night. 

A committee focused on increasing affordable housing options in Jackson County has been created following a unanimous vote of the Jackson County Commissioners.