Republican Jennifer Balkcom wins state House 117 seat: unofficial results
HENDERSONVILLE — Jennifer Balkcom, the Republican candidate in the North Carolina State House of Representatives District 117 race, has won the seat over Democrat Michael O'Shea with 59.15% share of the votes to O'Shea's 40.85%, according to unofficial election results.
Neither Balkcom nor O'Shea were incumbents — Tim Moffitt, who won the N.C. State Senate District 48 race, according to unofficial results, previously held the position.
According to her campaign website, Balkcom has lived in Henderson County her whole life, is a small business owner and currently sits on both the Henderson County Planning Board and local nonprofit The Storehouse's Board of Directors. She has previously held a number of leadership positions in the community, including Vice President of the Hendersonville Women’s Club and Advent Health Foundation Board Member.
O'Shea, Balkcom's opponent, grew up in Mills River, where he currently lives and where his parents were the minister and music director of the town's Unity Church. He ran for U.S. House 11th District in 2020, but failed to make it through the Democratic primaries. O'Shea graduated from Western Carolina University, then went on to work for most of his career in the music and film industries in addition to being a real estate investor and licensed broker.
Results are unofficial until after a canvasing period, during which county officials manually audit votes to ensure results are accurate.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
Christian Smith is a reporter for the USA Today Network. Questions or Comments? Contact him at RCSmith@gannett.com or (828) 274-2222
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Republican Jennifer Balkcom wins state House 117 seat
