For the race for Mayor, Joey Reece actually won 25% of the precincts. And Mr. Reece actually won election day voting by 10 votes. Mayor Gary Caldwell took his lead with the absentee voting. So for the next round there needs to be close inspection of how those absentee votes came to be. Knock those out or borrow whatever method he used to secure the absentee vote and Caldwell loses.
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The challenge isn't over. The incumbents have been put on notice: the people aren't happy with your performance. Not quite yet in number to force a sweeping change, but on the present track without correction, change will come as soon as the next election.
This was the first election where voter ID was required so that at least gives us more confidence that the votes are real. That's in spite of a few odd things like 10 people registered to vote using an address that isn't a residence. (https://haywoodtp.net/pubII/231028Email ... eInman.pdf) At least as a matter of "election integrity", the registered voters with an address of the Bethel House ought to be investigated and the findings published. Left unaddressed, whatever trickery is going on there could be expanded. (ie..How many registered at Pathways? How many registered at hotels? Was there any organized voting program coming from a non-profit in exchange for whatever services they provide to the voter? Etc.)
This election left the Town of Waynesville with at least one realization: The Haywood County Republican Party is not trivial. With the right long-game the next election could show some change. (The Sutton and Freeman seats are up for election in 2025.)
For the incumbents, I think a few of the things that likely showed vulnerability are: (1) NEVER roll your eyes or have the town attorney tell your constituents to sit down and shut up at public meetings. (2) The constituents are getting wise that the government is setting your agenda and telling you how to vote rather than you representing the constituents that elected you to represent them. (3) You're a mere 5% and 250 votes from being fired from your jobs. It won't take much to lose your support. (4) The mess you've made in the Planning Department with high-density low-income housing, loss of funding with the MPO due to poor representation, a sewer plant fiasco, and the quiet things going on with Lake Junaluska annexation will soon be realized by more voters who haven't yet noticed the coming mess. Oh, and (5) the HCGOP is increasingly organized and the local papers are decreasingly effective in "carrying water" -- consider that a trend line that isn't going in your favor.