Clampitt keeps 119th House District
Rep. Mike Clampitt has earned another term.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
The man still known for his protracted electoral feud with former Democratic Rep. Joe Sam Queen — the two faced off five times from 2012 through 2020, with Mike Clampitt winning three times — will continue to represent Jackson, Swain and Transylvania counties.
Clampitt’s Democratic opponent, longtime Transylvania County economic guru Mark Burrows, put up a strong fight, but in the end lost all three counties.
After redistricting enacted for the 2022 election, Transylvania County was added to Jackson and Swain counties to form Clampitt’s new district. Previously, his district had always included Jackson and Swain, but in 2020, it also included part of Haywood County.
The redraw meant that Clampitt had to make inroads in a new community, which he accomplished effectively enough in his 2022 defeat of Brevard architect Al Platt, a Democrat, by 2,798 votes there, en route to a 7.8-point victory across the district.
But that year, Clampitt only beat Platt in Transylvania County by 2.74 points, or 443 votes — good for 51.37% of the votes in a county then-President Donald Trump had won in 2020 with 57.03% of the vote. In 2020, turnout in Transylvania County was 77.31%.
This time, turnout was 77.23% in Transylvania County, and Clampitt maintained an edge of 1,730 votes which helped him to a 54.26% total across his district.
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Nonpartisan mapping website davesredistricting.org measured Republican performance in the current 119th District from 2016 to 2022 at 54.5%
Clampitt, a retired Charlotte fire captain, serves as co-chair of the families, children and aging policy committee, as well as co-chair of the federal regulations and American Indian affairs committee.
All results are considered unofficial until the State Board of Elections certify the results on Nov. 26.
