Congressional candidate Jasmine Beach-Ferrara visited App State Wednesday to speak with the App State College Democrats and Boone residents. 

Beach-Ferrara, a Democrat and Buncombe County commissioner, is running to represent North Carolina’s 14th district in 2022. 

She is running for the seat currently held by Congressman Madison Cawthorn, a Republican and vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. Cawthorn represents North Carolina’s 11th district which recently changed to the state’s 14th district following redistricting. The congressman is running to represent North Carolina’s 13th district in 2022.

“I got in this race not just to provide an alternative and a contrast to Cawthorn but to organize across the district and deliver the kind of leadership that our district deserves,” Beach-Ferrara said. 

Stephen Leverton, the treasurer of App State College Democrats, said Beach-Ferrara met with his organization to discuss the issues important to young voters in the Boone community, such as climate change, voting rights, education and criminal justice reform. 

“I think anyone, regardless of what position they’re running for, if they make an effort to come to a college campus, they’re impressive to me,” Leverton said.  

Beach-Ferrara highlighted climate change as a primary issue for Western Carolina and the United States. 

“Let’s start with the basics. This is an absolute crisis, and it’s an all hands on deck moment,” Beach-Ferrara said. “What we need is a coordinated and a multipronged approach. In Buncombe County, I was proud to help pass a measure that committed the county to being 100% renewable by 2030, and we are now marching toward that goal.”

Beach-Ferrara also addressed voting rights and voter suppression in Boone. She is in favor of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would create barriers to changing voting practices, according to the United States Congress.  

“She’s running a very pro-voting rights campaign, which is good,” Leverton said. 

In 2013 and 2020, the county Board of Elections attempted to move Boone voting sites away from App State’s Campus. 

“Ensuring that people have the right to vote and can vote easily and accessibly is such a critical priority in our country, and too often college students are targeted by laws that are essentially trying to disenfranchise them one way or another,” Beach-Ferrara said. 

Beach-Ferrara plans to return to App State’s campus closer to the Nov. 8 election. 

“We hope that what folks at App will feel is the urgency of this moment,” Beach-Ferrara said. “The urgency of this moment at a national level around things like voting rights and climate issues, the urgency of this moment in the new NC-14 which is our new Western North Carolina district where we are working to ensure Madison Cawthorn is a one-term congressperson.” 

Clarification: Congressman Cawthorn recently announced he will be running in a different district in the 2022 midterms.