My friend Deda Edney in Transylvania County sent me this video featuring seven Democratic candidates running for school board and county commission there -- an unusual approach, as some local candidates resist running as a unified group, a partisan team, but in this Transylvania instance, it's a positive presentation for community building and solidarity.
I've watched the Democrats in Transylvania for years now and feel their pain. Deda's husband Sam Edney ran a great but losing race for House Dist. 113 in both 2018 and 2020. He's now the party chair in Transylvania, and he's not given up rallying Democrats and carrying the flag for progressive change. This year's team of local candidates proves it. Deda and Sam are the type of local leaders that state party Chair Anderson Clayton has called for in every corner of rural North Carolina.
Two years ago, Transylvania elected to its school board a trigger-happy Christian nationalist and a Moms-for-Liberty-adjacent woman. The defeat of reasonable Democratic candidates would depress the energies of any activist, as Deda wrote after the 2022 losses, but the Democrats of Transylvania didn't stop, didn't give up, kept recruiting good people to put their names on the ballot under the banner of Democrat. These folks represent the best of hope, endurance, and a vision for the future that doesn't include hurting other people.
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More intel from Transylvania arrived this morning -- an index to the same sort of grassroots activism we're seeing all over rural North Carolina:
The voting totals through the first 3 days - 4,004 votes cast (up 11% from 2020).
We have started canvassing.
We have started literature drops. I spoke with a voter on Saturday who found our literature hanging on her door knob. She had also received a Thank You card for her donation. She voted AND made another donation.
Our Poll Observers are trained and doing their jobs. There have been 3 incidents. All reported and resolved:
Republican Observer talking to voters
Trump truck improperly parked.
Republican electioneers on the highway harassing our people on the highway in front of Ingles.
Phone banks are starting up again
Our first two advertising runs in the Transylvania Times were well received and commented on. I personally saw a number of voter guides that had been cut out from the paper in voter's hands.
Poll Greeters are working reliably in Brevard.
We need more Greeters in Rosman.
Women Vote Together was very successful.
So successful in fact, it upset the Republicans. They were so upset they called the Ingles family who demanded we relocate to our tent. (The event was originally to be staged away from the tents.)
The move worked to our advantage. Then they called the police. The police woman was very nice. She confirmed we did nothing wrong, and asked us to keep an open pathway for voters. Of course, over 100 women had already walked that route to vote for Kamala and Democrats! The police gave the same message to the R tent. Then the Chief Judge came out and gave the same message to both Parties as well. We continued to celebrate.
HQ is open and staffed.
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