Jackson County will see more conservative policies

Republican party are winners in the 2020 midterm elections but experts say it is not the expected red wave. Jackson County was no exception. The turnout for this election was 50% which is lower then 2018 and a lot lower from the 2020 elections when over 72% of registered voters in the county casted their […]

Jackson County redder after the midterm elections

Story updated Nov. 13 by WCJ Republican candidates won all three seats for County commission and most likely will avoid the re-count. Jackson County Board of Election on a community meeting on Friday, Nov. 11, acknowledged a mistake done during counting on election day. The chair of J.C. Board of Election, Kirk Stephens, apologized for […]

Election 2020: Digging into the numbers

by Jim Buchanan Political Analysis originally published in The Sylva Herald in Nov. 12, 2020 edition. The 2020 election in Jackson County was marked by two major trends: Increased turnout and a shift toward the Republican Party. Turnout jumped to 72.07 percent of the county’s 29,593 registered voters this year, up from 66.98 percent of the […]

WCU political science experts say Trump is unlikely to be fired

“You’re fired” used to be Donald Trump’s favorite phrase to say before he went from celebrity multi-millionaire to President of the United States of America. Now, almost three years into his presidency, Trump is facing impeachment which could result in his “firing” from the White House. Impeachment is not an easy process and there’s many […]

Tar Heel politics: A look at what 2018 offers

This story was originally published in The Sylva Herald. Given the turbulence of politics in 2017 in North Carolina, The Herald decided to turn to Chris Cooper, professor and head of the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University, for his thoughts on what lies ahead here in 2018, a year that […]

In 11th, Meadows is ‘about as invulnerable as they come’

This story was written by Jim Buchanan, originally published in The Sylva Herald. “Meadows is about as invulnerable as they come,” according to Chris Cooper, a professor and department head of political science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University. If anything, Cooper, widely regarded as the go-to political expert for this region, might be understating the […]