Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County,North Carolina,United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers,it is the most populous city in Western North Carolina,and the state's 11th-most-populous city. According to the 2020 census,the city's population was 94,589,up from 83,393 in the 2010 census. It is the principal city in the three-county Asheville metropolitan area,which had an estimated population of 417,202 in 2023.
Philip Edward Berger is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's thirtieth Senate district,which includes Caswell,Rockingham,Stokes,and Surry counties.
Roy Asberry Cooper III is an American attorney and politician serving since 2017 as the 75th governor of North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as the 50th attorney general of North Carolina from 2001 to 2017,and in the North Carolina General Assembly,in both the House,from 1987 to 1991,and the Senate,from 1991 to 2001.
Patsy Rouzer Keever is a North Carolina educator and Democratic politician.
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte,North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 –its highest-ever placement on the Fortune 500 list.
Patrick Lloyd McCrory is an American politician,businessman,and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. McCrory is the only Republican elected as governor of North Carolina in the 21st century. A member of the Republican Party,he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009.
Dale Robbins Folwell is an American politician who has been the North Carolina State Treasurer since 2017. A Republican from Winston-Salem,North Carolina,Folwell spent four terms in North Carolina House of Representatives,including a term as speaker pro tempore from 2011 to 2013. He was head of the state's Division of Employment Security in the administration of Governor Pat McCrory from 2013 to 2015. He was elected State Treasurer in the 2016 election,taking office on January 1,2017. Folwell was reelected to a second term in 2020,defeating Democratic challenger Ronnie Chatterji.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of North Carolina may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents,or LGBT residents of other states with more liberal laws.
Jonathan C. Jordan is a North Carolina politician and attorney who served as the legislator for the 93rd district of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. During his first term,Jordan served as the Deputy Majority Whip of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He was elected to office in the 2010 election defeating Cullie Tarleton by fewer than 800 votes. He defeated Tarleton again in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016,before losing in the 2018 midterm election to Watauga County Democrat Ray Russell,a professor who won with the help of students on the campus of Appalachian State University. Jordan resides in Ashe County,North Carolina and has two children in the public schools. He is an attorney by profession.
The North Carolina General Assembly 2013–14 session is the state legislature that first convened on January 9,2013,and concluded on August 20,2014. Members of the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives were elected on November 6,2012,when the Republican Party increased the size of its majorities in both the North Carolina Senate and House of Representative to exceed the three-fifths number of elected members required for a super-majority.
Christopher Michael Sgro is an American politician and political strategist best known for his work advocating for LGBT rights in North Carolina. He is a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and former executive director of Equality North Carolina. In 2017,Sgro became Communications Director of the Human Rights Campaign,the largest LGBT rights organization in the United States,where he later served as Senior Vice President of Communications. He currently works as spokesperson for Meta.
Teresa Van Duyn is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate. She represented District 49,which encompasses most of Asheville and Buncombe County,North Carolina from 2014 until 2021.
James Daniel Bishop is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 8th congressional district since 2019,when the district was numbered “9”. As a Republican,his district includes south-central Mecklenburg,Union,Anson,Richmond,Scotland,Robeson,Hoke,and southern Moore Counties. He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017 and the Mecklenburg County Commission from 2005 to 2009. He served in the North Carolina State Senate from 2017 to 2019.
In February 2014,an Eden,North Carolina facility owned by Duke Energy spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River. The company later pled guilty to criminal negligence in their handling of coal ash at Eden and elsewhere and paid fines of over $5 million. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has since been responsible for overseeing cleanup of the waste. EPA and Duke Energy signed an administrative order for the site cleanup.
Charles Marion Edwards is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party,he represented the 48th district in the North Carolina Senate from 2016 to 2023.
Rachel H. Hunt is an American politician. She is a member of the North Carolina State Senate and the lieutenant governor-elect of North Carolina. A Democrat,Hunt was elected in November 2022 to represent the 42nd district based in Mecklenburg County. Before that,Hunt served two terms in the North Carolina House,twice beating Republican Bill Brawley. When she is sworn in on January 1,2025,Hunt will become the first Democrat elected to the lieutenant governor’s office since Walter Dalton in 2012,The first child of a previous lieutenant governor to hold the same position since Jim Hunt in 1973 and the second female lieutenant governor of North Carolina,after Bev Perdue.
Paul Robert Newton is an American politician and Republican member of the North Carolina State Senate,formerly representing the 36th district.
The Fonta Flora State Trail is a unit of the North Carolina state park system in Buncombe,McDowell,and Burke Counties,North Carolina,in the United States,and it consists of 90 acres (36 ha) of conservation land and 19 miles (31 km) designated multi-use trail. The State Trail is planned as a continuous route for hikers and cyclists from Asheville to Morganton,with a loop around Lake James. The trail is a collaboration between local governments,local land conservancies the US Forest Service,and the state,with development coordinated by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation (NCDPR).
Destin C. Hall is an American attorney and politician who has served in the North Carolina House of Representatives,representing the 87th district since 2017.
Brian Austin Farkas is an American politician and State Representative who served District 9 in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
