- One unaffiliated candidate outperformed all Democratic candidates in. Cherokee County but still lost – Paul Wilson, who received 4,671 votes in his run against Arnold Mathews for the Cherokee County Board of Education District 2 seat. Mathews, a Republican, received 11,872 votes. See story for more post-election insights.
Murphy – The Cherokee County Board of Elections certified the county’s election results following a canvass on Friday, but one seat remains in limbo.
Justin Hyde, the commissioner-elect for the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners District 2 seat, is considering not accepting his seat on the board.
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At the board of commissioners meeting on Nov. 12, County Attorney Darryl Brown announced that Hyde’s status as a county employee would result in a conflict of interest.
Hyde is a basic emergency medical technician working for Cherokee County Emergency Services. He is also chief of the Valleytown Fire & Rescue Department, a separate agency but which receives county funds.
Hyde would not be considered eligible to be a county commissioner without the board approving an exception, Brown said.
Exceptions are permitted if a county doesn’t have municipalities of more than 20,000 citizens (Andrews and Murphy fall well below that threshold) and if Hyde makes less than $60,000 a year in his position with the county.
If Hyde declined health insurance, it would bring his pay and benefits below the $60,000 threshold. Hyde said pay he would receive as a county commissioner – $13,186 per year – would cover the cost of insurance, but keeping his EMT pay below $60,000 would be tricky.
As an emergency medical technician, Hyde would be expected to be available for overtime – emergency services tend to be unpredictable and overtime could quickly add up, so he would have to be careful about monitoring his hours.
Hyde said he may decide about his seat on the board by Friday.
Hyde’s dilemma
Hyde was notified of the problem in April and initially chose to opt out of county health insurance benefits to bring him under the $60,000 limit to be eligible for the “small jurisdiction exception” and was expected to ask the board of commissioners to allow it.
But Brown added that any miscalculation on Hyde’s part bringing his compensation over $60,000 could bring on a “cascade of difficulties.”
Among them, violation of the statute, NCGS 14-234, is a Class 1 misdemeanor offense for all board members serving at the time, Brown cautioned.
Hyde would also face conflicts of interest any time he votes on any county taxes, county pay rates, etc. – anything that he would not receive a direct or indirect benefit from if passed. Practically everything the board votes on has direct or indirect effects on taxes.
Also, the county would have to publicly post quarterly reports about Hyde’s compensation.
During the Nov. 12 meeting, Hyde was asked if he wanted to seek the exception. He paused a moment, then told the board he would “make it easy” and resign as commissioner.
Board members urged him to take his time deciding, advice he has taken to heart.
Leighsa R. Jones, director of elections for Cherokee County, said Monday she is awaiting Hyde’s decision. Hyde said he should decide by Friday, but he has until Dec. 2, although an earlier decision would avoid complicating his health insurance decisions.
If the seat stands vacant as of the first board of commissioners meeting in December – on Dec. 2, when the new board is seated including new members – then Randy Phillips would step down without a replacement.
It would be up to the Cherokee County Republican Party’s executive committee to fill the seat until the next board election in 2026.
Dallas McMillan, chairman of the Cherokee County Republican Party’s executive board, said, “The only thing i can say is that Cherokee County GOP has no standing in this situation until such time there is a vacancy. Randy Phillips is still the commissioner until the county swearing in of the new commissioners. No one needs to rush into an action when there is no vacancy. Nothing concrete has happened yet that would trigger any action by the GOP.”
As it stands, Hyde is the newly elected District 2 commissioner after defeating Phillips in the primary and Alan Bryant is the newly elected District 5 commissioner after defeating Jan Griggs in the primary. All the other board seats were not on the ballot and remain unchanged – Dan Eichenbaum in District 4, Ben Adams in District 3 and Cal Stiles in District 1.
Both Hyde and Bryant went on to the November election unopposed. Hyde received 15,211 votes and Bryant received 15,022 for their respective offices.
By precinct
Of Cherokee County’s voting precincts, Topton had the highest percentage of Republican votes in the 2024 presidential election at 85.58%.
Murphy North had the highest percentage of Democratic votes, at 25.20.
Trump-Vance received 13,825 votes to Harris-Walz receiving 3,665 votes.
Mark Robinson received 12,831 votes to Josh Stein’s 4,070.
According to N.C. State Board of Elections records, Cherokee County has 11,789 Republicans, 7,813 unaffiliated and 3,355 Democrats out of total voter registration of 23,114.
Among contested partisan races, Gov.-elect Josh Stein performed the best among Democratic candidates, drawing 4,070 votes, outperforming Harris-Walz, who received 3,665 votes. Sarah Taber performed the worst among Democrats, with 3,495 votes in her bid to unseat Steve Troxler as N.C. commissioner of agriculture.
The best-performing Republican on the November ballot in Cherokee County was Chuck Edwards, who received 13,967 votes against challenger Caleb Rudow’s 3,539 votes for U.S. representative in District 11.
The worst-performing Republican was Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson for governor against N.C. Attorney Gen. Josh Stein.
There were two Democrats who won Cherokee County – all judge seats and all unopposed.
Even then, some voters couldn’t bring themselves to vote Democrat.
Of 17,839 votes cast, Monica Hayes Leslie got 9,074 votes in her unopposed run for N.C. District Court Judge District 43 Seat 4; and Justin Greene got 9,016 votes in his unopposed run for N.C. District Court Judge District 43 Seat 2.
A very red county
Cherokee County voters were among the most conservative in the state in the Nov. 5 election, which went to Republican Donald Trump and kept a majority Republican congressional delegation, but went Democratic Party for many Council of State seats including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction.
In Cherokee County, Republican candidates at the state and federal levels have had at least a 2-to1 margin over Democratic Party candidates since the early 2000s, but starting in 2012, that margin increased steadily in favor of Republican candidates.
In 2004, 67.12% of Cherokee County voters picked Republicans George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, with 32.46% backing John Kerry and John Edwards (Edwards was a U.S. senator from North Carolina).
In 2008, 68.67% of Cherokee County went to Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin in their unsuccessful run against Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who got 30.07% of the vote in Cherokee County.
In 2012, Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan got 72.11% of the vote in Cherokee County to Obama and Biden getting 26.25%
In 2016, Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence got 76.47% of the vote in Cherokee County, compared to Democrats Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine getting 20.17% of the vote.
In 2020, Trump and Pence received 76.89% of the vote against Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris getting 21.82%
Trump and running mate J.D. Vance received 77.91% of the vote in Cherokee County this year.
