BAKERSVILLE — After newly-elected Mitchell County Commissioner Harley Masters made history on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 3, her instant reaction was that of surprise.
Masters finished as the top vote-getter of the four candidates vying for three seats on the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners.
She racked up 6,319 total votes (31.39 percent), beating out fellow Republicans Brandon Dean Pittman (6,158, 30.59 percent) and incumbent Jeff Harding (5,786, 28.74 percent) and Democrat Howard Larsen (1,869, 9.28 percent).
“I’m honored and surprised,” Masters said. “I’m honestly probably more happy that I won almost all the precincts.”
Area voters showed a cross-county display of support for Masters, who won all of Mitchell’s nine voting precincts, with the exception of Grassy Creek, in which she finished just 48 votes behind Pittman and 15 votes behind Harding.
Masters recorded double digit victories over her closest competitor in all but one of the eight districts she claimed. In Poplar, she finished ahead of Pittman by seven votes, marking the only district she won by single digits.
“I think it’s really important,” Masters said about winning multiple precincts. “You represent the whole county as a commissioner.”
Masters’ strong display at the polls also sets new marks in local history as she becomes the first female to serve on the board since Lisa Sparks did so from 2006-2010.
Additionally, at 29 years old, Masters will be the youngest commissioner to ever serve on the board.
“I’m very honored and I think it speaks volumes,” Masters said. “I’m excited to bring a different perspective. A different perspective can be beneficial to the county.”
Her unique perspective will be that of a small business owner as she is the co-owner and operator of Southern Ridge Cafe in Bakersville with her husband John.
“I hope people see that I can get elected and have never done anything in politics before,” she said. “You just have to have the heart and the willingness to serve the county and make it better.”
Masters will be sworn in, along with the newly-elected Pittman and the re-elected Harding, during the next regular commissioners meeting on Monday, Dec. 7.
The freshly-elected trio will join current commissioners Steve Pitman and Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff on the board and Masters said she thinks the new board has boundless potential.
“I think it’s going to be really proactive and I’m very happy,” Masters said. “We each have some very good ideas. We talked before the election about, however, it shook out, setting goals and coming back to make a want list and a needs list. We’ve all been pretty on board with that.”
As Masters prepares to take her seat on the commission, she hopes she can act as an inspiration for other young people in the area.
“I do hope it inspires young people to want to step up and lead,” she said. “At the end of the day, I want to make it better for generations to come. You have to have people my age and younger stepping up.”