District Attorney Jeff Hunt filed for re-election shortly after noon Monday at the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.
Hunt, a Republican, serves Prosecutorial District 29B (Henderson, Polk, and Transylvania counties). North Carolinas 43 elected district attorneys run by political party, unlike judges and state Supreme Court justices.
When Hunt was first elected in November 1994, the 29th district included Henderson, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell and Rutherford counties. He was reelected in 1998 and 2002. Effective in 2006, the N.C. legislature decided to split the 29th Prosecutorial District into 29A (McDowell and Rutherford counties) and 29B (Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties). In 2006 Hunt was elected district attorney for the three-county Prosecutorial District 29B.
As he was filing, Hunt said: “In North Carolina the elected District Attorney is essentially the senior partner in a law firm paid by the state, made up of assistant district attorneys and non-lawyer staff, which represents the people in every criminal case in state court. I pledge to continue the tradition of our office performing the prosecutorial function in District 29B honestly, effectively, efficiently and with the highest level of integrity and professionalism. We will continue to issue our annual reports, and to emphasize openness and accessibility in the operation of the peoples district attorneys office.”