Archived News

2014 District Attorney election primer

Do I vote in this race? Yes, if you live anywhere in the seven western counties.

 

About the race: District Attorney Mike Bonfoey, who has been the top prosecutor for the 30th judicial district for 10 years, is not running for re-election. That left the seat open for the taking. Two of the assistant district attorneys — colleagues who have worked together as prosecutors under Bonfoey for many years — are running. It’s gonna be a close one.

 

About the Candidates

• Ashley Welch, 36, Republican, an assistant district attorney from Macon County. Welch, who attended law school at UNC-Chapel Hill, is from Hendersonville. Her legal career has been spent solely as a prosecutor. She is married to the attorney for the Macon Sheriff’s office and does not have children.

• Jim Moore, 52, Democrat, an assistant district attorney from Haywood County. Moore has spent a total of 15 years as an assistant district attorney and 12 years in various private legal practices in Waynesville. His wife is an attorney and he has three grown children. He is originally from Arkansas but has been in WNC for almost 30 years.

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