Polk County Democrats

Contacts for Democrats of Polk County

Links to this page: Executive Board Members   Precinct Information     Standing Organizations    County Officials    Board of Elections   NC Representatives    US Representatives  Town Officials

We are the Polk County Democratic Party, the chartered affiliate of the North Carolina Democratic Party. We represent the political interests of Polk County Democrats, not only through direct political action, but also through community service.

The party headquarters is located at 64 Ward Street in Columbus, behind the courthouse and between the Sheriff's Department and the Post Office.

The phone number for the headquarters is: (828) 894-0539. 

Our mailing address is:

Polk County Democratic Party
PO Box 602
Columbus NC 28722

(Don't send anything to the street address; there is no mail delivery there.)

The governing body of the Polk County Democratic Party is its Executive Committee, which consists of:

• The Officers of the Executive Board
• The Precinct Chairs and Vice-Chairs
• The presidents of the Men's and Women's clubs
• All current Democratic elected officials

County Democratic Executive Board

The Executive Board of the Polk County Democratic Party consists of the six people holding the following offices: County Chair, the three Vice-Chairs, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.  Board members serve for two-year terms, and are elected at county conventions in odd-numbered years, in April.  Officers for the 2011-2012 term are as follows:

* All phone numbers are area code 828.

Precinct Information

The 7 Polk County Democratic Precincts each select three officers: Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary.  Precincts are not allowed to raise or spend money indepedently, so there is no treasurer function. The officers serve for two-year terms, and are elected at annual precinct meetings in odd-numbered years, at a date specified by the state party but usually in February. 

Precinct officer elections were held on March 1, 2011, and the new precinct officers for the 2011-2012 election cycle are listed in the following chart.  In all cases the three officers are listed in the order of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary.

Note: Polling places for municipal elections are the same as for regular elections for Tryon and Saluda, but for Columbus it is Columbus Town Hall, 99 Walker St.

 Standing organizations

• Men's Club, Jack Jolley, President.
• Women's Club, Margaret Johnson (894-3219, or e-mail), President.
•  

Polk County Officials

The 2008-2010 Board of County Commissioners is comprised of three Democrats and two Republicans.  They are key county officials and we need to contact them frequently. Here is their contact information:

Ray Gasperson is Chair of the Commission, and Renee McDermott is Vice-chair.  Ted Owens and Ray Gasperson were elected in 2010 to four-year terms, and Tom Pack to the two-year term.  Cindy Walker and Renee McDermott were elected to 4-year terms in 2008 and continue in office. 

Polk County law regarding the election of commissioners is unusual in that every two years the terms of three of the five commissioners expire, so that a numerical majority is always up for election but not the whole commission.  This is achieved by awarding 4-year terms to the two top vote-getters, but only a 2-year term to the low vote-getter (among the winners).  The low vote-getter thus becomes the third commissioner up for election in the next cycle.

The Sheriff is Donald Hill, a Democrat, who was elected to a full term in 2010.  His office is in the Sheriff's Department next to the party HQ on Ward Street, and his phone is 828-894-3001.

The Clerk of Court is, effective 1/1/2012, Pam Hyder, a Democrat appointed to replace the retiring  Charlene Owens, who was re-elected in 2010. She will serve on an interim basis until the November, 2012 election, which will establish the permanent successor. Her office is in the Courthouse, and her phone is 828-894-8231.

The Registrar of Deeds is Sheila Whitmire, a Republican, last elected in 2008 to a four-year term, and thus will be up for re-election in 2012.  Her office is in the Womack Building across from the courthouse, her phone is 828-894-8450, and her website is here.

Board of Elections

Every two years the Board of Elections becomes the most important County agency in terms of Polk County politics. It's where you register to vote, where candidates register to run, and it runs the elections themselves. The Board is located at 40 Courthouse St, Columbus NC 28722, on the second floor of the Womack Building, directly across from the courthouse.  Their mailing address is:

Polk County Board of Elections
PO Box 253
Columbus NC 28722

The Board of Elections is bipartisan, but political at the same time. It consists of three members: one Democrat, one Republican, and a chair from the same party as the current governor. Thus the party in power in Raleigh controls the Board, but the other party is represented. The current Board members are as follows:

Dale Edwards, Director of Elections, oversees the county employees and poll workers who actually run the elections.

The BoE phone number is (828) 894-8181, their fax is (828) 894-3565, and their email is here. The office hours are 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Monday thru Friday.

The BOE website is here.

Federal Officials

Our junior senator is Democrat Kay Hagen, elected in 2008 to fill the seat once held by Jesse Helms.  Her term is up in 2014.

Her contact information is as follows:

Washington, D.C. Senate Office
B40A Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6342

Raleigh Senate Office
310 New Bern Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 1-877-852-9462

Our senior Senator is Richard M. Burr, a Republican from Winston Salem, who was re-elected to a second term in 2010.

 His contact information is as follows:

Washington Office: 217 Senate Russell Office Building,  Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3154(phone)
202-228-2981 (fax)
Email: Here.

North Carolina Office: 2000 W. First Street Suite 508, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27104
(336) 631-5125 (phone)
(800) 685-8916 (toll free)
(336) 725-4493 (Fax)

Our Congressman, since 2007, is Heath Shuler, a Democrat, who won his third term in 2010.  His official website is here.

His contact information is as follows:

Washington, DC Office:
512 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3311
Phone: 202-225-6401

District Office:
356 Biltmore Avenue, Suite 400
Asheville NC 28801
Phone: 828-252-1651
Fax: 828-252-8734.

Note: as a result of redistricting, it is very probable that we will be moved to the 10th congressional district of Congressman Patrick McHenry, a Republican. The approved map of the new districts is here. The new districts may well be challenged in court, and we will post new information here as it develops. 

Our Representatives in Raleigh

Our governor is Bev Perdue, a Democrat who was elected in 2008 and is serving her first term.  Governors are term-limited to two four-year terms, and she will be up for re-election in 2012. 

Her contact information is as follows:

Mail: Office of the Governor, 2301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-0301

Phone: 1-800-662-7952 (NC only)

Our representative in the State General Assembly is  Trudi Walend, a Republican from Brevard who represents the 113th district and was appointed to fill out the term of David Guice when he resigned in mid-term. The office will be up for election in 2012.  That district includes all of Polk and Transylvania counties and part of Henderson County, and is unchanged as a result of the 2010 redistricting. The heavy Republican demographic in Henderson County has historically made this district safe for the other side.  State representatives serve two-year terms.

Office Address:

 NC House of Representatives
300 N. Salisbury Street, Room 528
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925

Phone: 919-715-4466

 e-Mail: Here.

Local Office: (Not available)

Local Phone: (Not available)

Our State Senator is Tom Apodaca of Hendersonville, representing the 48th Senatorial district which includes Polk, Henderson, and Buncombe counties.  Again the fact that our district includes the reliably-Republican Henderson County means that defeating Apodaca or any Republican is unlikely, although the fact of Buncombe County's being in the mix for the Senatorial district is certainly an advantage here.  State senators serve two-year terms. 

Apodaca's contact information is as follows:

Office Address: 16 W. Jones Street, Room 2010
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808

Phone: 919-733-5745

E-mail: Here.

Local Address: 214 N. King St., Hendersonville NC 28792

Phone: 828-696-0500

Note: as a result of redistricting, we are probably going to be moved out of Apodaca's district and into the adjoining district. The new map is here. The new districts could be challenged in court, and we will post additional information as it becomes available.

Towns

Polk County has three major towns: Columbus (the county seat), Tryon, and Saluda.  Their web sites are as follows:

Columbus
Tryon
Saluda

The mayor of Columbus is Eric McIntyre, who is Unaffilated.  Town Council members are: Margaret Metcalf (D), Ernie Kan (D), Richard Hall (R), and Ricky McAllister (R).  The town administrator is Jonathan Kanipe, and the town attorney is Chris Callahan.  Phone number: 828-894-8236.

A list of Columbus town employees is here.

The mayor of Saluda is Fred Baisden, a Republican.  Town Council members are Johnnie Kinard (D), George Sweet, Leon Morgan (R), and Lynn Cass (D).

The Mayor of Tryon is Allen Peoples, a Republican.  Town Council members are Wim Woody (R), Doug  Arbogast (R), Roy Miller (D), and George Baker (U, but usually votes in Republican primaries.  Justin Hembree is the town manager.  A full listing of Tryon Town employees is here.