Political news update: David Young for state treasurer; Holly Jones for commissioner? And yes, we still say Charles Taylor is running

It’s the fall before a big 2008 election year, and that means lots of people are jockeying for various political offices. It’s our duty to keep up the gossip on who we hear will be running for what. So this is the latest:

Buncombe County Commissioner David Young made it official yesterday – he’s running for state treasurer. Ashvegas broke this news a couple of months ago, but Young played coy until Wednesday. Young is one in a crowded field of Democrats running for the statewide office, and he’s got some stiff competition. Still, Young says he’s got the business acumen and the connections (he’s on the UNC Board of Governors and he’s president of state association of county commissioners) to make a successful run.

With Young running for statewide office, that means he’s done with the county board of commissioners. So there’s one open seat. There will be another open seat, because Commissioner David Gantt is running against county board Chairman Nathan Ramsey for that chairman’s seat. Ramsey will most likely have to fend off Don Yelton in a Republican primary, but that’s not a problem for Ramsey.

So there will be at least two open seats for commissioner. That means all kinds of people coming out of the woodwork to run for commissioner. The most interesting potential candidate we’ve heard about so far is Ashvegas City Councilwoman Holly Jones.

Jones has been quietly exploring a run for the county board for a while now. She insists she’s still “thinking” about it, and will make her mind by the end of the year. Our guess is that Jones will run.

A couple of other names for potential commissioner candidates: Keith Thomson, who has run for city council before; John Fisher, the husband of state Rep. Susan Fisher; and we’re guessing at least one or two of the candidates now running for city council. Maybe Elaine Lite, if she doesn’t make council. Maybe Bill Russell. Who knows. They’ll be coming out of the woodwork.

Finally, the word on the street is that former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor’s annual Christmas dinner is a go this year. While he was in office, Taylor built the fund-raising event into the premiere Republican gathering in Western North Carolina. He often brought in big-name Republicans to speak and it was quite the event.

If the dinner’s on, Taylor must be running, even though he has yet to announce his intentions. Right? So far, it’s Republican Carl Mumpower taking on Dem. U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler. But we’ve got a long way to go.