Rogers upsets Pless in NC House primary
Jimmy Rogers’ Primary victory over Mark Pless sets up the first real race in the 118th District in years.
NCGA photo
Two counties hit hard by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina will soon have a new representative in the General Assembly, after Republican Primary Election voters backed a challenger who won by nearly 10 points.
Haywood and Madison counties comprise the 118th House District and together tallied more than $200 million in losses from the Sept. 27, 2024, storm, which caused $60 billion in damage statewide.
Since 2020, the district has been represented by Haywood Republican Mark Pless, a former county commissioner with a proven history of bringing big appropriations back to where they’re needed most — including the Town of Canton, which also suffered the loss of substantial municipal infrastructure during Tropical Storm Fred in 2021 and in 2023 had to cope with the loss of a major employer.
But Pless often found himself at the center of conflict; In 2022 and 2023, bills he backed would have stripped towns like Maggie Valley and Waynesville of extra-jurisdictional zoning authority. Maggie Valley did indeed lose its ETJ, and Pless lent his support to residents who sought deannexation from the town.
Other proposals, like Pless’ partisan municipal election push, were introduced without consulting local officials. Pless also threatened to defund the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority but ultimately relented, earning more criticism from local leaders who argued he often challenged municipal authority rather than collaborated with it.
More recently, Pless introduced bills that would remove county control over emergency medical services and shift certification standards to a national registry, leading local EMS officials, including in Haywood County, to voice concerns about accountability and service quality.
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In his three state elections, Pless had never faced a Primary opponent; longtime Haywood County Schools board member Jimmy Rogers prevailed over Pless districtwide by a total of 855 votes, or 9.5 points. Official results won’t be certified until March 13, but for now, Rogers appears to have come away with 54.7% of the vote to Pless’ 45.2%.
“I believe the people really wanted a change, to be honest,” Rogers said. “I think people may not have felt they were getting the results they wanted — you have to listen to the people.”
Both Pless and Rogers are from Haywood County and have long histories in the community — making Madison somewhat foreign turf for both. Pless, known to voters there since his 2020 election, performed well. He more than doubled Rogers’ numbers (1,007 to 459) and won every precinct except Hot Springs, although Pless and Rogers did tie in two others.
It wasn’t enough to ward off Rogers, who outpaced Pless in their home county 4,506 to 3,103. The 1,400-vote differential gave Rogers nearly 60% of the vote in Haywood, erasing the margin provided by Pless’ largely happy Madison County base.
Rogers won every Haywood County precinct except Pless’ home precinct, Center Pigeon.
Districtwide, Rogers prevailed by 340 votes in Election Day balloting, but a strong early voting effort earned him a surplus of 493 votes. Rogers said it wasn’t the result of any organized effort — just good old-fashioned handshakes and chats at early voting sites.
“I was at the polls, mainly at the senior center, also the Canton library,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything special about it. I was there to answer questions if they needed answers, but mainly to say hello to people.”
Rogers also took issue with the tens of thousands in independent expenditures made by a PAC tied to online gambling and meant to help Pless.
“I think the biggest thing was that mine was a grassroots campaign,” said Rogers. “I didn’t take special interest money. I think a lot of people were upset about that.”
The race isn’t quite over for Rogers. He’ll face Democrat and Waynesville attorney Danny Davis in November.
Davis, a former prosecutor and district court judge, served as chair of the Haywood County Board of Elections fox six years until Republicans in the General Assembly stripped incoming Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, of the power to appoint board members, giving that power instead to the state auditor, a Republican. Davis resigned from the board to run for the General Assembly.
Now, Davis steps into a tough partisan race against Rogers in a pair of counties that have been remarkably consistent in their support for Republican candidates. Through Donald Trump’s three most recent presidential campaigns, Haywood County supported Trump at a 62% clip, each time. Madison County voters supported Trump in 2016 with 60% of the vote, and then 61% in both 2020 and 2024.
“Democrats have kind of lost their way, in my opinion, and I’m pulling it back to where it needs to be,” Davis told The Smoky Mountain News. “We’ve got to be for things, not just against things.”
There are a few factors that may play in Davis’ favor; he’s widely respected across partisan lines for his decades of experience in the legal field and is seeking an open seat not held by an entrenched incumbent. He’s expected to earn some crossover votes, but closing a 20-point gap will require strong messaging.
“The policies of the party in the power in Raleigh and Washington are not working for people,” Davis said, mentioning affordability issues surrounding housing, health care coverage, groceries and utilities. “That party, regardless of what a lot of people want to think, is not for the working people. It doesn’t matter who they send to Raleigh, they’ll be signing from the same songbook. People are beginning to realize that, and I need to make them realize that more.”
Rogers, likewise, may earn some crossover votes for his long service on a school board that has consistently supported a county school district that routinely performs in the top ten percent of all districts statewide. Additionally, Rogers was a registered Democrat until some time after the 2020 Primary Election.
