After canvassing, the vote count is official, with Brad Waldrop, Mark Jones and Blitz Estridge winning seats on the Sylva Town Council, in addition to incoming Mayor Johnny Phillips. 

Tuesday, Nov. 7 was an important night for out LGBTQ+ candidates across the country, the state and Haywood County, with more running — and winning — than in any previous odd-year election in U.S. history. 

They ran a noisy campaign, filled with distortions, misinformation and outright fabrication, but in the end, that’s all it was — noise. 

The Sylva Town Council could have three new members, including a new mayor after vote totals become official later this week. 

Maggie Valley will retain two of its incumbents, including its mayor, for the next four years. 

Fears that North Carolina’s new voter ID implementation would disenfranchise legitimate voters have proven unfounded — at least in Haywood County, where municipal election turnout was stronger than usual. 

The Town of Canton’s governing board has been through a lot in the last four years — with the 2021 flood and the 2023 closure of the town’s largest employer — but they must be doing a good job managing the chaos, as voters decided overwhelmingly to return Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull and Alderman Ralph Hamlett for another term. 

Incumbent Alderman Dann Jesse will return to the Town of Clyde Board of Aldermen, along with a new face, Amy Russell. 

To the Editor: 

Regarding the Oct. 25 article, “The heart and soul of Waynesville is on the ballot,” I was born in Hazelwood, am a lifelong resident of Haywood County and owned a small business on Main Street for many years.

To the Editor: 

It isn’t often that I feel vindicated, but my hat is off to Max Boot at The Washington Post for declaring that “Trump’s generals have one last duty to perform, they must tell American voters what they saw first-hand: their former boss is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.”