Transylvania County Democratic Party

08/26/2026

Great news for 119!

NEW: Carolina Forward is proud to announce our endorsement of Mark Burrows for NC House, candidate for NC House 119 in Jackson, Swain and Transylvania counties.

Mark Burrows will support raising the minimum wage, protecting Medicaid expansion, better funding for western North Carolina's public schools, and fighting political corruption in Raleigh.

Follow Mark on social media and visit his website for more details: https://markburrowsnc.com

08/26/2026

Today the world lost an incredible musician and human.

Dolly Parton spent her life serving her community, and country. Through her Imagination Library she helped millions of children learn the love of reading. She helped her home grow and benefit from her own wealth, sharing when she could. She helped after Helene, and leant a helping hand wherever she could.

She was a perfect example of unconditional love for her fellow humans and for God. There are many times when she reminded us that we are here to love each other, not judge each other.

We will truly miss her incredible spirit, but will always cherish her music and unstoppable spirit of service and love.

The beloved star’s team said she had faced a brief battle with cancer. In May, she cancelled a Las Vegas show and said she’d been undergoing treatment for kidney stones for several years.

08/25/2026

🚨 Both Transylvania County Commission seats on this year's ballot are wide open.

Jake Dalton and Chase McKelvey did not file for reelection. No incumbent is defending either seat.

That is unusual. It is also an opportunity to provide desperately needed new leadership for the County!

✅ Owen Carson is running for one of those seats, on a platform built around what this county's own studies already say it needs:

🏠 Housing that people who work here can actually afford.
🍎 Schools that hold up.
🚧 Infrastructure that makes both possible.

No incumbency to defend. No excuses to recycle. Just the work.

🔗 Read where he stands: https://www.transylvaniaforall.com/

🗳️ Vote by November 3. Make your plan now, then share this with three neighbors who live here and cannot afford to.

Join me in shaping a future that includes all of the voices of Transylvania County. Your participation and support can make a difference in our community!

08/25/2026

🏠 $544,000.

That's what the median home in Transylvania County sold for as of December 2024. That's the county's own number, from the 10 Year Housing Strategy it commissioned.

📈 Price per square foot: up nearly 80% since 2017.
📈 Median rent: up 26.3% between 2018 and 2023.
📉 Rentals under $750 a month: more than half of them in 2018. Only 31.8% by 2023.

💵 Renter households here earn a median of $35,016 a year. Nearly 4 in 10 of them pay more than 30% of their income just to keep a roof up. That is NOT affordable housing!

The same county study says it out loud: we are short more than 3,000 affordable units for households at or below 80% of area median income, and we need 1,542 new residential units built over the next ten years.

🧹 The people who clean the hotel rooms.
🍎 The people who teach our third graders.
📞 The people who answer the 911 calls.

They cannot afford to live where they work. That is a choice our county made, and it is a choice we can unmake.

✅ Owen Carson and O’Neill for County Commission are running to fix it.

🗳️ Vote by November 3. Make a plan today, then send this to three neighbors and make sure they vote too. This one is close enough that your ballot decides it.

08/24/2026

We are ready to elect Democrats! If you want to help, this weekend we are holding a Weekend of Action!

There will be canvassing all day Saturday and Sunday this weekend!

Sunday there will be a very special canvass with NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton, our very own Jamie Ager for Congress, and Reyna Walters-Morgan from the DNC. This canvass will begin in Rosenwald where we will get out to knock doors throughout the neighborhood.

You can find all the canvassing slots for the weekend here: https://www.mobilize.us/nc-coordinated/event/975609/

Join us as we hit the doors for Roy Cooper, Jamie Ager, and Democrats up and down the ballot in Transylvania County! This is where the real work happens—having conversations with voters, sharing what’s at stake, and making sure our community shows up strong in 2026. Whether you’ve knocked a hu...

08/23/2026

🗳️Are you registered to vote? Are you sure?🗳️

✅Check your registration today! It takes thirty seconds.✅

North Carolina counties run list maintenance, people move, and names come off rolls quietly. Protect your right to vote, check today!

The deadline to register or fix your record is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9. Do not find out on November 3.

Look yourself up: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/reglkup/

Then check one other person. A spouse, a neighbor, the kid who just moved back home.

Early voting starts October 15th! Election day is Nov. 3rd!

Search for voter details, including jurisdictions, polling place, sample ballot when available, absentee ballot information, and voter history.

08/21/2026

Thank you to the Chamber of Commerce for hosting this event!

We look forward to the opportunity for our candidates to speak directly to voters about why they are best qualified to lead this County!

Please join in person, or online!

Please join us for our 2026 Candidate Forum on Wednesday, September 2, from 5:30–9:00 PM at the Transylvania County Library. Doors open at 5:00 PM.

This is an opportunity to hear directly from candidates seeking to represent our community:

• Transylvania County Board of Commissioners
• Transylvania County Board of Education
• NC Senate District 50
• NC House District 119

We want to hear from you! Community members are invited to submit questions for consideration by August 28. Email your questions to [email protected] or scan the QR code below.

If you can not attend, we will livestream from our page, so you can follow along from wherever you are.

Thank you to Duke Energy for sponsoring this community event!

08/21/2026

Republicans on North Carolina's Board of Elections are telling lies about "election integrity" while they vote, along party lines, to eliminate Sunday early voting hours in most counties.

Let's be clear about what's happening. Election officials at the county level couldn't agree on weekend schedules. So the Republican-controlled state board voted as a bloc to reject Sunday hours wherever they had the power to do so.

The intent here is obvious. Sunday early voting is used disproportionately by Black voters and working families who can't take time off midweek. Cutting it doesn't improve election security. It reduces turnout. That's the whole point.

Meanwhile, HB 958 is still moving through the legislature with language that would bar election officials from 'encouraging or promoting voter turnout.' Not stopping fraud. Discouraging voting.

The truth is simple. Elections in Transylvania County are secure because your neighbors run them and they care about getting it right. Democrats running for office this fall will protect your right to vote and defend election officials from partisan attack. A vote for Democrats is a vote to keep voting easy and elections honest.

Republicans on the NC Board of Elections rejected most early voting plans that included Sunday hours, but found a few compromises.

08/21/2026

“When we invest in our kids, we invest in their future,” Stein said. “We invest in our future, so I am proud that we’re sending our kids back to school this year with a budget that higher prioritizes them.”

North Carolina just approved the largest teacher pay increase in state history. It's not perfect. It's not finished. But it matters. When teachers can afford to live in the communities they serve, schools are stronger. Kids have consistent educators who know their names and their struggles.

That's what Democratic governance looks like: a state that invests in teachers because it invests in kids. A state that says the people who shape our future deserve to be able to afford a future here.

Remember this when you vote this November. This is what Democrats deliver when you give us the tools to govern.

North Carolina’s 2026 budget delivers the largest average teacher pay raise for the state in 20 years, Stein said, and the largest increase in starting teacher pay in about 50 years.

08/19/2026

Are you ready to turn Transylvania Blue, and get paid to do it?

We're hiring canvassers, and we're paying them!

The Transylvania County Democratic Party is launching the Transylvania Organizing Fellowship, a paid opportunity to do the work that actually wins elections: knocking on doors and talking to voters face to face.

Fellows will canvass target precincts across Transylvania County, drop literature, and have real conversations with Democratic and unaffiliated voters about the issues they care about, the cost of living, housing, healthcare, and our schools.

💵$450 for six completed canvass packets (about $75 a packet, roughly $25/hour)
📋A packet is 30–45 doors, usually 2–4 hours
🕙Flexible schedule, finish your six on your own timeline
✅One 1.5-hour training before you start
🎙️No degree or campaign experience required

This program exists because our supporters made it possible. If you've ever wanted to do more than post about it, this is the job.

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CSDG10PbN_vUxu5L_SCKF4dQgF1eF5YREEBNDm0DqLg/edit?usp=sharing