ASHEVILLE - A newly appointed Republican and a returning Democratic challenger are offering sharply different answers to who should pay for Western North Carolina’s schools, services and recovery from Tropical Storm Helene.
Rep. Anna Ferguson faces Democrat Mark Burrows in House District 119, covering Jackson, Swain and Transylvania counties. Previous Republican Rep. Mike Clampitt (R-Swain) died March 18 at 71 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Ferguson was appointed in April, when local Republicans selected her to complete Clampitt's term and replace him on November’s ballot — making her the first enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly. She had finished second to Clampitt in the March
3 primary election.
Raised in the Qualla Community, Ferguson earned a business administration degree at North Carolina State University. Her experience includes her family’s electrical contracting business, a retail venture with her sister, short-term rental management and service on the tribe’s planning board.
Her first months in Raleigh brought an unexpected shift in priorities.
“Of course, when I was running in the primary, I had some lofty ideas, some exciting things about education and health-care reform. Then I get in — it’s all water and sewer,” Ferguson told the Citizen Times Sept. 24.
Burrows, a Transylvania County resident who lost to Clampitt in 2024, brings more than 30 years in planning and economic development, including county government and regional development organizations.
Asked why voters should replace Ferguson, he questioned whether her positions on schools and local government matched her actions.
“I’m more interested in talking about what we need to be doing going forward to bring back balance to Raleigh,” Burrows said.
Who's got the tab?
The property tax debate asks whether state-imposed limits would protect homeowners or undermine local governments’ ability to fund services. Ferguson supports the proposed constitutional amendment, anticipating exceptions for communities that demonstrate a need.
“When you’re seeing property tax increasing greater than the amount of growth you’re seeing, something isn’t aligning there,” she said.
Burrows argues state tax cuts already shift responsibilities onto counties, leaving local officials to cover costs Raleigh once paid.
“That means they’re going to have to raise either service fees or permit fees, or we’re going to see further degradation of services,” he told the Citizen Times Sept. 23.
The broader question of affordability — from gas to groceries to going to the doctor — remains a top issue among voters. Ferguson favors attracting employers to compete for workers and supports raising the state’s minimum wage, unchanged at $7.25 since 2009.
“If you invest workers’ wages, you help invest in their education. You’re going to get a better source of labor and a more educated source of labor, and you just you end up pulling a whole community up,” she said.
Burrows wants tax policies addressing child care and health-care costs, plus college expenses support to limit graduates’ debt, but mentioned Duke Energy’s recent rate hikes as a good place to start.
“Right now, the one that I’m hearing the most about is probably utilities, and I think as a legislative body, that’s clearly something that the legislature can put in place — working with the governor to try to rein that in,” he said.
Going forward, affordable housing policy might address both the supply of homes and whether local workers can afford them. Ferguson supports state funding for developments serving different incomes, backed by water and sewer capacity.
“We want to preserve the beauty, but we also need to have housing that our working class can live in and can afford,” she said.
Burrows favors infrastructure grants for denser development and greater local flexibility, with construction designed for when — not if — the next disaster comes.
“Beyond managing expectations, we know that you just simply cannot afford a home on most of the salaries that entry-level workers get,” he said.
Building back, paying forward in wake of Helene
Helene recovery presents lawmakers with decisions about how quickly to move assistance and how to protect rebuilt communities from future storms. Burrows would prioritize roads, bridges, utilities and broadband built for future conditions.
“We have engineers, we have planners, we have areas that we know are going to be under threat because of just the geography, topography and floodplain areas. How do we build smarter in those areas?” he said.
Ferguson favors funding nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity and Samaritan’s Purse, which she said are housing families faster than government programs.
“We’re two years from the hurricane, and again I agree that’s slow, but for government that’s actually pretty quick,” she said.
Funding education
Opportunity Scholarships use public money to help families pay private K-12 school tuition, raising questions about funding priorities and accountability. Ferguson expressed support for the scholarships but discussed first-generation college students rather than the K-12 program.
“I need to look at hard data before I give a real concrete answer to that one,” she said of altering the $1 billion program.
Burrows favors freezing voucher funding and argues tuition increases can leave families priced out even with assistance.
“I think that unless that school meets certain requirements, the same as those for public schools, I don’t think that there should be any public money, including tax credits or anything,” he said.
NC House 119 district candidate views on government transparency
Legislative transparency concerns whether voters can inspect the correspondence, schedules and outside contacts that help shape lawmakers’ decisions.
Ferguson declined to commit to voluntarily releasing emails, calendars and communications with lobbyists and donors, saying preliminary ideas could be mistaken for settled positions.
“Because I like to rely on other people. Other people know more than I do. If I’m reaching out to someone just to see if this is a viable solution, I don’t want people to automatically think, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the direction she’s headed,’” she said.
Burrows supports disclosure, with exceptions for sensitive personnel matters, constituents’ personal issues and certain economic development discussions. He wants a uniform system that limits the workload for legislators and staff.
“I think that legislators should be responsible for sharing that information,” he said.
Candidates discuss Flock cameras, data centers
Flock cameras scan license plates, creating a debate over investigative benefits and the potential for surveillance abuses.
Ferguson said constituents oppose their use locally for now, but she wants discussion of safeguards.
“How do we want to make sure that Flock cameras don’t violate the Fourth Amendment? You know what what are actions we can take to regulate it so that we’re comfortable with it?” she said.
"I personally do not like them," Burrows said, calling them "invasive." Although he hasn't discussed the cameras with law enforcement about their use, he did speak out against those who of late have taken to vandalizing the cameras.
Data centers raise a separate question about where large computing facilities belong and how communities should manage their resource demands. Ferguson opposes a statewide moratorium, citing differences between mountain communities and areas more receptive to development. Burrows does as well.
"I think we should allow local bodies to decide what is in their own best interest," he said.
Cannabis regulation in North Carolina debated
The cannabis debate concerns whether North Carolina should permit and regulate medicinal or recreational sales beyond the Eastern Band's existing operation — the tribe legalized medicinal cannabis in August 2021 and recreational cannabis in September 2023.
Ferguson is open to statewide legalization, pointing to testing and age restrictions.
“I think it will make cannabis use safer,” she said.
Burrows feels much the same, and wants to ensure people under the age of 21 are not able to access cannabis products.
How might national political trends affect 119th race?
The 119th District’s Democratic performance averaged 42.9% across 2016-2022 elections, according to nonpartisan mapping site daveredistricting.org. With national political headwinds pushing hard against Republicans this cycle, voters’ judgments about party leadership matter and could influence their choices — even in local legislative races.
Burrows thinks national and state issues could help him, but warns against assuming a Democratic wave will deliver victory.
“I really don’t think that we need to be talking about a 'blue wave' because it simply allows individuals not to take responsibility for engaging and being involved in an election,” he said.
Ferguson expects national politics to affect the race too, but she pointed to cooperation across the aisle in Raleigh, including her work with Buncombe County Democratic Rep. Eric Ager on impaired driving legislation.
“It should be about coming together to do what we’re going to do the best way possible,” she said. “We all have a common goal, and that’s to make this place the best place it can be to live.”
Cory Vaillancourt is the Helene Recovery/Investigations Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Find him on X at @The_CoryV or on Signal, via email at cvaillancourt@citizentimes.com or at 912-508-5640.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Taxes divide NC House 119 candidates
