The race for United States Senate in North Carolina has been dubbed a sleepy one, but with Election Day now just three weeks away, things are heating up and both candidates are ramping up the attacks.

Redistricting brought small changes to many of Western North Carolina’s legislative districts, but nowhere are those minor changes more major than eastern Haywood County.

With the U.S. Senate under razor-thin Democratic control and a rare open seat in North Carolina, candidates on both sides of the aisle are already gearing up for what will likely be a brutal primary season. Although much of the action thus far has been on the Republican side, Democrats are ramping up their efforts — even in deep-red Western North Carolina. 

Cheri Beasley, former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, announced her campaign for United States Senate in April. On Friday, Beasley visited several small businesses in downtown Asheville to speak with business owners about how they fared during the pandemic and hear what they would have liked state representatives to have done differently. 

There are few races in North Carolina this cycle that hold more consequence than that for the United States Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Thom Tillis. 

Shortly before Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Sept. 18 after serving on the nation’s highest court for 27 years, she dictated to her niece her final wish: that her seat not be filled until a new president was elected. 

Franklin orthodontist Jim Davis has held the District 50 seat in the N.C. Senate since 2010, when the legislature flipped to a Republican majority for the first time in more than 100 years. But if Jane Hipps, a retired educator and certified nurse practioner from Haywood County, has her way, she’ll be the one representing District 50 come January.

Last fall’s election is barely in the rearview mirror, but battle lines are already being staked out for 2016.

And voters may be looking at a rematch for the state senate seat that sprawls from Waynesville to Murphy, spanning seven mountain counties. Both N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and challenger Jan Hipps, D-Waynesville, say they will run again in two years.

Stories from the 2014 midterm election:

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is known for his direct and unapologetic communication style, but it landed him in hot water with some audience members at a debate held at Western Carolina University last week.

Davis made a reference during the debate to the large percentage of African-American children born to unwed mothers, which in turn made them more likely than the general population to end up in jail.