(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Candidate filing closed on Friday, giving voters the slate of choices for the 2024 election cycle. BPR’s Lilly Knoepp spoke to politics expert Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University about the season’s filing, the upcoming political cycle and who will be on the ballot.
Lilly Knoepp: What did we learn from this year’s candidate filing?
Chris Cooper: We've learned a whole lot. In some ways given how non-competitive many of these seats are around our state. This filing season is really did determine who's going to be, not just on the ballot, but representing us in a lot of these districts. It looks like we had well over 1,600 candidates show up in file. Pretty standard fare as far as overall numbers. It looks like in general, the Democrats and Republicans kind of had opposite problems. The Democrats did not field as many candidates as the Republicans. The Republicans on the other hand have some very, very crowded primaries particularly on the Congressional side. Following redistricting many of these districts became much friendlier to the Republican Party. The Republican candidates not surprisingly jumped into these districts with both feet and the Democratic candidates by and large stayed away from those districts.
Knoepp: Congress really seems like where there have been the most shake-ups. Why you think that is?
Cooper: Redistricting really changed the Congressional delegation in North Carolina in some very very significant ways. So in the House and the Senate redistricting matters. It matters a ton and it can certainly change who's in power and by how many seats but they're constrained at least a little bit by this county-clustering rule. That world does not exist at all in the United States House of Representatives. Do not have to live in your district to run there you just live anywhere in the state. So what that means is if a new district opens up, if it looks favorable to one party, even one you don't live in, if you have a of Mt. Mitchell or a view of a Nags Head you're going to be able to run in that district.
Knoepp: You've called this candidate filing season the, 'season of surprises.' What has really surprised you?
Cooper: Yeah, I mean so many surprises. Caleb Rudow in our North Carolina State House delegation took a very very safe seat for in Buncombe County in the North Carolina state house, and he said, you know what? I'm going to run for Congress instead. We're seeing two people run in the Democratic primary against Rep. Tricia Cotham, who of course famously switch parties. So you're seeing a lot of these names you kind of number but they're popping up in different and new places.
We saw Donald Trump get in and endorse a candidate who frankly, nobody really heard of before Donald Trump even gave the endorsement. You're seeing races that you think aren't going to get a challenger or any real competition change.
[AG] Josh Stein announced a long time ago that he's going to run for governor on the Democratic side. People might think he's got that sort of sewn up, Mike Morgan state Supreme Court justice decides, he is going to get in there and run also. It's been really has been a season of surprises.
Knoepp: To your point about a former president Donald Trump, there are so many national implications and national forces that come and play a role in politics here in North Carolina. We've seen that so far in the governor's campaign with Mark Robinson rallying with Trump. It will be really interesting to see how all that plays out. I think the governor's race is really going to be the biggest fireworks this year.
Cooper: Yeah that race is going to be, I would imagine, the most watched and the most expensive gubernatorial race in the United States of America. Our attorney general’s race with [Dan] Bishop and Jeff Jackson. That is also going to be, I would imagine, the most expensive and most watched attorney general race.
Knoepp: What did you learn from the candidates who filed at the local government level like county commissioner?
Cooper: It's really interesting to watch some of these more rural counties in Western North Carolina. The Democratic party is, I don't know how else to say it, they're having a hard time recruiting candidates. There are counties out west that have zero or one Democrat running for local offices. It's not just that the Democrats aren’t winning out west. They're oftentimes not even getting on the ballot. So that matters in the short run but it also matters in the long run. Many of these state house and state senate seats, go to people who used to be on county commissions or school boards or city council or what have you and to have the Democrats essentially have very little to no farm team in some of these far western counties is obviously great news for the Republican Party and pretty bad news for the Democratic Party.
Here's who is running for office in WNC
US Congressional District 11
Incumbent Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards will run to keep his seat. In the primary, he will be challenged by Republican Christian Reagan. Reagan retired to Appalachia and is running on a platform to ‘Make America Great Again,’ according to his website. One of the surprises of this season was Democrat Rep Caleb Rudow who currently represents District 116 in Buncombe County threw his hat into the congressional ring after redistricting was announced.
NC Senate District 50
Incumbent Republican Kevin Corbin is running for re-election. Corbin has been in the Senate for two terms and was in the House for two terms prior. But the surprise is that attorney Adam Tebrugge of Jackson County is running as a Democrat against Corbin. Tebrugge’s website states that he worked as an assistant public defender for over twenty years.
NC Senate District 49
Incumbent Democrat Julie Mayfield is running for re-election. Mayfield has served two terms in the Senate. Mayfield is being challenged by Republican Kristie Sluder of Weaverville. Sluder previously ran for Congressional District 11 in 2022 but lost in the primary winning less than 2% of votes.
NC Senate District 48
Incumbent Republican Tim Moffit is running for re-election. Moffit has served one term in the Senate and more than three in the House prior. Democrat Chris Walters of Hendersonville is challenging Moffit.
NC Senate District 47
Incumbent Republican Ralph Hise is running for re-election. Hise has been in office for seven terms. Before the last election, Hise's district lines were extended to include part of Haywood County. Democrat Frank Patton Hughes III of Avery County is running against Hise.
NC Senate District 46
Incumbent Republican Warren Daniel is running for re-election. He’s been in office for seven terms. In a surprise twist, Democrat and former House Rep John Ager of District 115 is running for election. In 2022, Ager retired after being in office since 2015. His son Eric Ager was elected to House District 114 in the last election.
House District 120
Incumbent Republican Karl Gillespie is running for re-election. In the last election, Gillespie's seat was uncontested. This year, Democrat Nancy Curtis of Cherokee County is challenging Gillespie for the seat.
House District 119
Incumbent Republican Mike Clampitt is running for re-election. Clampitt has been in office for three terms despite redistricting lines in the last election swapping Haywood County out for Transylvania County in the district. Transylvania County Democrat Mark Burrows is challenging Clampitt. Burrows retired from nearly 30 years of service of the county in 2021, according to the Transylvania Times.
House District 118
Incumbent Republican Mark Pless is running for re-election. Pless has served two terms in office. Democrat Evelyn Davidson of Marshall is running against Pless.
House District 117
Incumbent Republican Jennifer Balcom is running for re-election. Balcom has served one term in office. She is being challenged by Democrat Steve Martinez of Henderson County.
House District 116
In 2022, Brian Turner announced that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election in 116 district. Democrat Caleb Rudow won election in the district in 2023. He was appointed to District 114 in 2022 to replace longtime Rep. Susan Fisher announced her retirement. Now as Rudow is running for NC-11, Turner will run for re-election. The seat is uncontested.
House District 115
Despite new district lines which favor a Republican in the 115 district, incumbent Democrat Lindsey Prather is running for re-election. She's running against Republican Ruth Smith. This is Smith's first run for elected office.
House District 114
Incumbent Democrat Eric Ager is running for re-election after serving one term in office. If both Agers are elected, father and son will be able to carpool to the Legislature. Republican Sherry Higgins of Arden is challenging Ager.
Correction: This story has been updated with more information on the 115 House of Representative's race and to reflect the correct spelling of Lindsey.
