Quentin Miller lodges historic win in Buncombe sheriff's race Democratic primary

ASHEVILLE - Quentin Miller easily topped a field of five Democrats in the race to become the next Buncombe County sheriff, making history in the process.

Miller, an Asheville Police Department sergeant, becomes the first African-American major party nominee for sheriff in county history, giving him the chance in November's general election to become the county's first African-American sheriff.

He claimed 54 percent of the vote, according to complete but unofficial returns, besting Buncombe County Sheriff's Office Capt. Randy Smart, who garnered 24 percent of the vote, and retired APD officer Daryl Fisher, with 13.7 percent.

Miller is seeking to replace Sheriff Van Duncan, who is retiring after 12 years. Duncan endorsed Smart as his replacement.

For his part, Miller attributed his big win to strong community support and a massive number of volunteers who came out to push for this historic win.

"I'm just so excited and filled with so many different emotions," said Miller, who was surrounded Tuesday night by family and friends in front of Haywood Lounge, where dancing, cheering and tears ensued. "I've always spoken about the community of 'we'; it's so important that we change the mindset of law enforcement to be like guardians, not intimidators, and I think that is what really hit the voters."

Asheville native Jeffrey Ray, who voted for Miller, said over the past few years he's seen his hometown move further from being the welcoming environment it once was. A black man, Ray voted based on who will bring the community back together, especially to include minorities, like himself, he said.

“This city has people issues right now, and for me personally, when I go around town to visit different places, I am looked at as lesser, and it hurts,” said Ray, 27, who works in the marketing department at Takeout Central, an online delivery site. “I am voting for candidates who can promote a better sense of community.”

Miller has deep background in law enforcement

Miller also has extensive law enforcement experience. An Asheville native who joined the city's police department in 1994, Miller has deep ties to the community.

He graduated from the Administrative Officers Management Program at N.C. State and holds an Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate from the North Carolina Department of Justice.

Local governments and law enforcement agencies tend to blend together for voters, said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University. So turmoil in the Asheville Police Department surrounding the videotaped beating of a black man by a white officer in August 2017 likely played a key role in voters' decisions Tuesday, he added.

Voters want competence and experience, and Miller has both, Cooper said, but they also desire someone sensitive to the racial tension permeating police-civilian relations.

"What happens in the city and county is intertwined," Cooper said. "So I think the situation with the APD will have some spillover."

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Miller had no role in the beating, which sparked national outrage.

Cooper said he believes Buncombe County voters also may want something of a fresh start after the scandal revolving around former County Manager Wanda Greene, currently under federal indictment for embezzlement, wire fraud and conspiracy.

UNC Asheville history professor Darin Waters said Miller already has left his mark in simply becoming the first black candidate for sheriff in Buncombe to win a party nomination.

Smart raised most but came in second

Buncombe Sheriff's Capt. Randy Smart, Duncan's handpicked choice, finished a distant second to Miller. That's a disappointing total considering he had the sheriff's endorsement and easily out-raised the other candidates, pulling in $54,233.

"I think they want something a little different," Cooper said. "And it’s likely that in the county, people want change because of what happened in the city — you get this bleed over, because people don’t silo local officials. They think of them as one. In a sense, they feel maybe local government isn't working as well as it should."

Other Democratic candidates also reported large fundraising numbers: Miller reported $35,611, and Daryl Fisher claimed $18,330. Chris Winslow raised $7,642.34, while Rondell Lance reported no money raised.

Winslow had just 5.5 percent of Tuesday's votes, Lance 3.2 percent.

Miller will face Republican Shad Higgins in the November general election. Higgins reported collecting $18,330 in campaign donations.

Tracey DeBruhl, a Libertarian, will also be on the November ballot. He filed no finance report.

Miller said that although he did not have the endorsements or campaign funds like some of his opponents, he clearly reached the people, which has always been his ultimate goal. That couldn't have happened without his team of tireless volunteers, Miller said.

Tuesday night, Smart acknowledged that he felt confident going into the election. Smart gathered with a group of close family, friends and community supporters at Ambrose West in West Asheville, but the mood was somber.

"We did all we could do as far as campaigning and getting Van Duncan's endorsement," Smart said. "But in the end it's up to the city and the voters made their decision."

Smart said he would not have changed the way he campaigned, and he said he's already spoken to Miller about helping him to transition into the sheriff's department, if the time comes.

"I'm in a good place with all of this, and I've had a good run with the sheriff's department over the past 12 years," Smart said. "My biggest worries are for all of the men and women at the sheriff's department who are preparing to retire. I want to make sure I help them through to the end, and I will work with Quentin to do that."

Miller and his wife of 31 years, Karen, have six children and nine grandchildren. Since 2005, they've also fostered more than 100 children in their own home.

Throughout the campaign, Miller touted his community ties and service, and he notes on his website that he served as a member of the APD’s original community policing unit "PACT," receiving the Officer of the Year award and the Overall Regional Award for initiating a street ministry and midnight basketball program for at-risk youth.

Miller led a job training program for unemployed community members, and he ran a summer camp for at risk youth for nearly a decade.

South Asheville residents Bill and Karen Harmon said they voted for Miller after researching the candidates and coming away most impressed with him.

"He seemed less self-centered than the rest of them, and he's very community oriented," said Bill Harmon, 81.

To Karen Harmon, 74, Miller "seemed more straightforward than the others."

They also like his years of experience in law enforcement, and his platform.

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Miller emphasized de-escalation training for all deputies, a hot-button topic in Asheville and Buncombe County in the wake of that now-infamous beating of a Johnny Jermaine Rush, a black man stopped for jaywalking. The white officer involved, Christopher Hickman, now faces charges including a felony for strangulation.

"De-escalation is a proven tactic to make policing safer for the public and for officers," Miller states on his campaign website. "This element of a training program helps deputies assess potentially dangerous situations and minimize the risk of harm for everyone involved."

Miller also pledged to not sign a "287g agreement" with the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, a program that essentially deputizes local police to carry out federal immigration operations. ICE conducted raids recently in Western North Carolina, spurring protests from the community.

An army veteran who served as a military policeman, Miller also said he supported the passage of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and "will use my platform as Sheriff to call for Congress to pass this law." He also favors treating the opioid epidemic as a disease and pursuing treatment options such as Drug Court.

"We cannot arrest our way out of a public health crisis," Miller says on his website.

Fisher, who garnered almost 14 percent of the vote, stirred controversy in March when a joke he made in reference to gun owners at a campaign event went viral, with some conservatives saying Fisher advocating killing gun owners.

In the video, Fisher says in response to a question, "people say you'll have to pry my guns out of my cold, dead hands...OK". Fisher then shrugs and the crowd responds with laughter.

Fisher maintained it was clearly a joke, although not a particularly great one, but the right seized upon it as evidence of Democrats stopping at nothing to disarm gun owners.

South Asheville resident Brian Davenport, 39, said the gun comment had no bearing on his vote. He found Fisher's platform aligned best with his own Democratic ideology, so he voted for him.

"I think he sticks by his principles, and that will probably influence him in the big issues and the small issues, as well," Davenport said.

A 23-year veteran of the Asheville Police Department, Fisher retired in 2012. He billed himself as one of the more educated candidates for sheriff in Buncombe history, with an associate's degree in law enforcement technology from Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Shaw University in Raleigh, and a master's degree in public affairs from Western Carolina University.

Cooper said the impressive field for sheriff shows how important the job is to the community.

For his part, Miller is already looking towards November, where he said he will further his agenda on law enforcement de-escalation tactics and Obama-like ideas about being a community unit of one.

"It's about bringing local government, commissioners and all sides of law enforcement to the community table," Miller said. "I'm bringing it back to 21st century policing."



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Staff writers Alexandria Bordas, Jennifer Bowman and Joel Burgess contributed to this report.