Loftis, Carson advance in Swain County Republican primary
Following last Tuesday’s Primary Election, two Swain County Republicans will advance to November’s General Election.
Of the four candidates in the running, David Loftis and Philip Carson came away with enough votes to seal the victory with 30.7% and 26.9%, respectively. Trailing Loftis and Carson were Isaac Herrin and Donna Cole with 21.8% and 20.7%, respectively.
Carson had previously run for the office and even held the commission chairman seat as a Democrat before switching his party affiliation to Republican.
Loftis owns the Nantahala Riding Stable and said that although he’d never run for anything, he felt called to run after some prayer and speaking with members of the community.
This year, incumbent commissioner Kevin Seagle is vacating his seat to run for the Chairman of the Commissioners against Democrat Ben Bushyhead, who currently holds that seat. In addition, commissioner Danny Burns is retiring at the end of his current term, so his seat will be open.
Carson and Loftis will now square off against Democrat Deborah Smith, who had no primary challengers. The top two vote-getters between Carson, Loftis and Smith will win commission seats.
