Municipal election draws races in all three towns

Published 10:00 pm Monday, July 20, 2015

Filing for Polk County’s municipal election ended last Friday, July 17 with races occurring in the towns of Columbus and Tryon and City of Saluda.

Incumbent Columbus Mayor Eric McIntyre is the only seat not contested this year. McIntyre filed to retain his seat this year with no challengers.

Incumbent Columbus council members Richard Hall and Margaret Metcalf both filed this year with challengers Mark Phillips and Emily J. Gage also filing. Current councilman Scott Hamby also filed, but Hamby is not considered an incumbent since he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of former councilman Ricky McCallister, who resigned prior to the end of his term. Columbus will see five candidates vie for three open seats.

In Saluda, there will be a race of three for two open commissioner seats. Incumbent Leon Morgan filed to retain his seat with challengers Karen Bultman and Stanley Walker also filing. Current commissioner Lynn Cass did not file for re-election this year.

Tryon will see a race for both the mayor’s seat and two open commissioner seats. Incumbent mayor Jim Wright filed to retain his seat with challenger Alan Peoples also filing as challenger. Peoples is a former Tryon Mayor who was defeated during the last mayor election by Wright.

Tryon will also see four candidates vying for two open commissioner seats.

The seats of commissioners George Baker and Roy Miller are open this year, with both Baker and Miller filing, as well as challengers Crys Armbrust and Doug Arbogast.

Armbrust is Tryon’s former economic development director and Arbogast is a former Tryon commissioner.

This year’s election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 9, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. Early voting will begin this year on Oct. 22 and end on Oct. 31, according to the state board of elections office.