Patsy Keever beat incumbent state Rep. Bruce Goforth in Tuesday night’s Democratic primary election for Buncombe County’s N.C. House District 115. Some might call it an upset, but a number of folks saw this one coming from a mile away.
Keever, a former public school teacher and Buncombe County commissioner, is known in Asheville for her progressive positions on issues. Bruce Goforth, who was seeking a fifth term, had gained stature in Raleigh for his more conservative stance.
Goforth, who had never faced a primary election before, was pulling out all the stops. He was getting fund-raising help from his Raleigh colleagues and the party was backing him in a big way. The North Carolina Association of Educators, a powerful lobby, endorsed Gorforth despite Keever’s record as a long-time teacher at Enka Middle School.
Keever used a sharp website and savvy social marketing to overcome Goforth’s more traditional advantages. And in Keever’s campaign manager, Drew Reisinger, we have another example of a smart former Obama campaign worker applying his skills to a local campaign.
3 Comments
I don’t live in Keever’s district, but I talked to a couple of people who voted for specifically because they were disgusted by negative robo-calls from Goforth.
getting waxed in Buncombe County, it looks like. but he’s won the district.
And Shuler is getting waxed with 4 precincts unaccounted for? Really?