Preston Blakely

Preston Blakely

Nonpartisan

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina, Greensboro, 2017

Graduate

Western Carolina University, 2019

Personal

Birthplace

Asheville, N.C.

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Preston Blakely ran for election to the Fletcher Town Council to represent District 2 in North Carolina. Blakely won in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Blakely completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Blakely is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Biography

Blakely was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2017 and a graduate degree from Western Carolina University in 2019. As of 2019, Blakely was a manager at Quality Janitorial Group.

Elections

2019

See also: City elections in Fletcher, North Carolina (2019)

General election

General election for Fletcher Town Council District 2

Preston Blakely defeated incumbent Hugh Clark in the general election for Fletcher Town Council District 2 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Preston Blakely (Nonpartisan)	71.7	274
	Submit photo	Hugh Clark (Nonpartisan)	27.7	106
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	2

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 382
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Fletcher Town Council District 2

Preston Blakely and incumbent Hugh Clark defeated Julia Price-Fogel in the primary for Fletcher Town Council District 2 on October 8, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Preston Blakely (Nonpartisan)	67.2	119
✔	Submit photo	Hugh Clark (Nonpartisan)	25.4	45
	Submit photo	Julia Price-Fogel (Nonpartisan)	7.3	13

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 177
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Preston Blakely completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Blakely's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a Fletcher native and graduate of Western Carolina University and UNC-Greensboro. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and African American and African Diaspora Studies from UNC-Greensboro. Additionally, I earned my Master of Public Affairs from Western Carolina University.

I have experience at all levels of government and want to bring my educational and work experiences to help make the best decision for and with the citizens of Fletcher.

I have always wanted to give back to the community in some way. I decided there was no better way than to start in the place that has always been my home, Fletcher.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Advocate for a new Henderson County Public Library in Fletcher
• Increase citizen engagement
• Maintain hometown quality

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about many areas of public policy but there are particular forms of policy that I am most passionate about. Areas I am most passionate about include criminal justice, civil rights, education, and environmental policy.

Nevertheless, I am knowledgeable about most areas of policy and I am prepared to tackle any issues that may arise in a given policy area.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Fletcher is an important municipality because at one point it was one of the fastest-growing municipalities in North Carolina. Additionally, it is geographically in a unique place as it is between Asheville and Hendersonville.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my family and I would like to follow in their footsteps. I would like to follow in my family's footsteps because they have consistently given back and advocated for the community. My grandmothers on both sides of my family served our community incredibly well. My Grandma Pat was involved in public transportation and drove a bus for the City of Asheville for a number of years. My Grandma Pat had an incredible responsibility and ensured that a job got done that served so many people in the public.

My Grandma Oralene has continually been a social justice advocate in the Western North Carolina area. My Grandma Oralene desegregated Mars Hill University as the first student of color and founded the Martin Luther King J.R. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County.

Additionally, my parents have been able to employ numerous people in the Western North Carolina area via our family business Quality Janitorial Group. They have given back to the community in numerous ways and continue to operate our business today.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Characteristics most important to an elected official are transparency, honesty, empathy, understanding, and knowledgeable of the issues that are impacting their citizens.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave the legacy of someone who was empathetic, caring, efficient, and knowledgable. As someone who grew up in Fletcher, I look forward to having the opportunity to move Fletcher forward into the future. So that Fletcher may continue to be an area that is economically and socially prosperous.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event that happened in my lifetime was the election of our first black president, Barack Obama.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Officially, my first job was working as a cashier at Best Buy in Arden, NC. I began working there at the end of my sophomore year of high school (2011) and resigned at the end of my senior year of high school (2013). Unofficially, my first job was helping my family out with our family business. In 1990 my parents founded Quality Janitorial Group in Asheville, NC and I would help out in any way I could when I was growing up. Additionally, I currently work as a manager at our business, Quality Janitorial Group.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

If I could be any fictional character I would be the Black Panther. I would want to be the Black Panther because of the fictional country of Wakanda that shows Africa positively.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

We are a Dillon's Rule state, meaning municipal governments derive their power from the state legislature and can only do (or not do) what the state allows. Nevertheless, I think all local government elections are important because elected officials at the local level make decisions that are more likely to directly impact you.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

An understanding of the public would be the most beneficial expertise for holders of this office to posses. This is because the holder of the office will make decisions that will impact the public on a daily basis.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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