From Staff Reports

Several candidates attended — and gave brief speeches — during a mid-afternoon May 27 barbecue luncheon over the Memorial Day weekend hosted by J.B. Howard, a Republican candidate for the chairmanship of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.

The soiree was held at the Buncombe County Firefighters Training Center in northwest Buncombe.

BCGOP Chairman Henry Mitchell introduced the candidates who were present and he thanked the party faithful for supporting him and his efforts.

Among those who spoke were Mike Fryar, a candidate for the District 2 of the county commissioners. “We did good in the primaries,” Fryar told the crowd.

Fryar said the current commissioners are “going to have us $400 million in debt — and we need to stop that” by voting in fiscal conservatives like him.

Patricia Cothran, who is running for the county regisrer of deeds post, said, “The register of deeds is not something most people think about, but it’s a very important position.”

Speaking last, Howard quipped that “you can pull a straight Republican ticket ... because everyone in here says that that bunch at the county commissioners’ office needs to be gone, with its free-spending ways."

The crowd cheered Howard’s remarks.

Continuing, Howard asserted, “Also, you can get rid of that 28-year-old (Democratic) register of the deeds because the progressive crowd downtown wants to make him the engineer of the (political) train” in the county. He said that “Republicans can stop that.”

His reference was to Drew Reisinger, the incumbent who is running against Cothran.

On a light note, Howard said thatl in the past, he thought he was the front-runner in his bid for office, but “this time, let’s make sure that everyone knows I’m going to win — not just me.” The crowd laughed.

Further, Howard said, “I’m going to need a minimum of 200 people to step forward to help in this election ... On Election Day, we’re going to need about 180 people at the polls” on behalf of the BCGOP.

If the Republican candidates are victorious, “then we’ll try to give y’all some relief” from the current commissioners’ liberal policies and programs.

In closing, the crowd cheered when Howard said, “I certainly will have one (another barbecue gala) around Labor Day. Thank y’all!”