Edwards defeats Duncan in race for chair of Buncombe County Board of Commissioners

Buncombe County Commissioner Amanda Edwards defeated former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan in the race for chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, according to preliminary results from the Buncombe County Board of Elections.

Edwards replaces long-time chair Brownie Newman, who endorsed Edwards’ candidacy. She is the first female to hold the top spot on the county commission, garnering more than 60% of votes cast. The Buncombe County Board of Elections will meet to certify results for the 2024 general election at 11 a.m. on Friday, November 15.

"It has taken 240 years, but we have broken the glass ceiling on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners' board chair," Edwards told the Citizen Times after the election results were announced.

Edwards, 47, a Democrat elected to the commission in 2018, told the Citizen Times in 2023 that she was running so she can continue to “meaningfully improve how (the county) responds to people who are in need, people who are chronically underserved and people who are marginalized.”

Edwards, the executive director of the A-B Tech Foundation, told the Citizen Times Nov. 5 that she's excited that her message of supporting emergency services, the environment, education and the economy "resonated with so many voters."

"We're going to roll our sleeves up, and we're going to get to work to focus on those issues, but also rebuilding Buncombe County after a natural disaster," she said.

On Sept. 27, Tropical Storm Helene raged through Western North Carolina, killing more than 40 people in the county and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.

Duncan, 60, a former Democrat and who served three terms as county sheriff from 2006-18, ran as an unaffiliated candidate in the general election. He gathered more than 8,000 signatures from registered voters in Buncombe County to get on the ballot.

In September, Duncan, an investigator and police officer for The Biltmore Company, told the Citizen Times he left the Democratic party in 2018 because he believed the party's “far-left progressives” were promoting an anti-law enforcement sentiment.

“I just wanted people to know that I wasn’t part of that movement and that agenda of the party,” Duncan said.

Duncan told the Citizen Times in 2023 that if elected he would use the position to stop current county policies on jail reduction and homelessness.

After the election results were announced, Duncan told the Citizen Times he called Edwards and wished her well. He said Edwards has a huge job ahead of her, as recovery in the wake of Helene won’t be an easy task.

More: 2 Buncombe Board of Commissioners Chair candidates: What do they say on Helene recovery?

More: In Buncombe commission chair race, campaign cash pours in for former Sheriff Duncan

Jacob Biba is the county watchdog reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times. Reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: In race for county commission chair, Edwards defeats Duncan