Editing Haywood County, North Carolina (section)

==Government, law, and public safety==
===Government===
Haywood County is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners. Each member is popularly-elected to serve a four-year term. The board is responsible for adopting the county budget, setting the local property tax rate, making zoning decisions, and hiring the county attorney and county manager.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/315/Board-of-County-Commissioners| title = Board of County Commissioners| website = Haywood County, North Carolina| publisher = Haywood County Government| access-date = May 26, 2023}}</ref> The county manager oversees county government administration.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/162/County-Manager| title = Office of the County Manager| website = Haywood County, North Carolina| publisher = Haywood County Government| access-date = May 26, 2023}}</ref>

Haywood County is a member of the regional [[Councils of governments in North Carolina|Southwestern Commission]] council of governments.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 26, 2022 |title=Haywood County, NC |url=https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/ |access-date=September 26, 2022 |website=www.haywoodcountync.gov}}</ref> It is located in the [[North Carolina Senate]]'s [[North Carolina's 47th Senate district|47th district]], the Senate's [[North Carolina's 50th Senate district|50th district]], the [[North Carolina House of Representatives]]' [[North Carolina's 118th House district|118th district]],<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/CountyRepresentation/haywood| title = Haywood County Representation : 2023-2024 Session| publisher = North Carolina General Assembly| access-date = May 27, 2023}}</ref> and [[North Carolina's 11th congressional district]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Democratic candidates for US House to debate| newspaper = The McDowell News | pages = A1, A4| date = April 6, 2022| url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-mcdowell-news/125669989/}}</ref>

Haywood County contains a small portion of the [[Qualla Boundary]], a tribal reservation for the [[Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.usetinc.org/nahm/ebci/| title = Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians| date = September 23, 2021| publisher = United South and Eastern Tribes| access-date = May 28, 2023}}</ref>

===Public safety===
The Haywood County Sheriff's Office provides court protection and jail management for the entire county and provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated portions of the county.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome |url=https://www.haywoodncsheriff.com/ |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Haywood County Sheriff's Office |language=en-US}}</ref> The towns of [[Waynesville, North Carolina|Waynesville]], [[Canton, North Carolina|Canton]], and [[Maggie Valley, North Carolina|Maggie Valley]] have municipal police departments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Police |url=https://www.waynesvillenc.gov/departments/police |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=www.waynesvillenc.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Police Department |url=https://www.cantonnc.com/police-department/ |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Town of Canton |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Police Department |url=https://maggievalleync.gov/government/departments/police-department/ |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Town of Maggie Valley |language=en-US}}</ref> On October 1, 2020, the Haywood County Sheriff's Office took over all law enforcement service for the town of [[Clyde, North Carolina|Clyde]]. They are expected to continue operations in the town until June 2025.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vaillancourt |first1=Cory |title=County will assume Clyde PD duties |url=https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/29909-county-will-assume-clyde-pd-duties |website=Smoky Mountain News |date=September 23, 2020}}</ref>

Fire protection and rescue services are provided by the Clyde, Cruso, North Canton, Saunook, Waynesville, Crabtree-Ironduff, Maggie Valley, Junaluska, Center Pigeon, Canton, Jonathan Creek, Fines Creek, and Lake Logan-Cecil Fire Departments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Links {{!}} Haywood County Fire Departments |url=https://www.waynesvillenc.gov/departments/fire/links |access-date=September 26, 2022 |publisher= The Town of Waynesville, NC}}</ref>

===Politics===
{| role="presentation"
|
|- 
| {{PresHead|place=Haywood County, North Carolina|whig=no|source1=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|23,393|13,913|545|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|22,834|13,144|564|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|18,929|10,473|1,325|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|15,633|11,833|508|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|14,910|12,730|427|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|14,545|11,237|150|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|12,118|9,793|362|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|7,995|9,350|2,724|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|7,292|10,385|3,332|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|8,957|9,010|61|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|10,146|7,958|27|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|7,217|9,814|431|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|5,885|10,692|71|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|8,903|4,515|313|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|6,205|5,703|3,898|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|5,575|10,664|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|8,583|8,044|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|6,955|7,598|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|6,124|8,761|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|2,684|7,373|209|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|2,919|7,755|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|2,357|8,631|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,331|8,175|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|3,082|6,790|34|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|4,472|4,173|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|2,440|4,582|8|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|3,000|4,229|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|1,523|2,403|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|354|2,068|867|North Carolina}}
|}

Voter Registration Statistics: 
Republicans=16,956 
Democrats=11,338 

Prior to the Civil War, Haywood County elected several [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] to office. After the war ended in 1865, [[Southern Unionists|Unionists]] established a local branch of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. Republicans dominated local offices until 1870, when the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]—often as a member of [[Electoral fusion in the United States|fusionist]] anti-[[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] "Conservative" coalitions alongside former Whigs as well as [[Moderate Republicans (Reconstruction era)|Moderate Republicans]] and [[Independent politician|independents]] opposed to Reconstruction—experienced a resurgence across the state. By 1876, the county was firmly dominated by Democrats.<ref name= hyattpolitics/> Democrats remained dominant in the county into the early 21st century. Over the subsequent 20 years, the Republican Party's presence rapidly increased due to the increase of new residents and the defection of local [[Southern Democrat]]s.<ref>{{cite news| last = Johnson| first = Becky| title = GOP election sweep ousts long-time Haywood County commissioner| newspaper = The Mountaineer| date = November 9, 2022| url = https://www.themountaineer.com/news/gop-election-sweep-ousts-long-time-haywood-county-commissioner/article_c33a8ccc-5fe6-11ed-8d6c-cf796897c3fc.html| access-date = May 27, 2023}}</ref> In November 2022, Republicans won all contested local races in Haywood, making the county commission entirely occupied by Republicans for the first time in its history.<ref name= hyattpolitics>{{cite news| last = Hyatt| first = Vicki| title = Republican dominance in election marks historic time for Haywood politics| newspaper = The Mountaineer| date = December 7, 2022| url = https://www.themountaineer.com/news/republican-dominance-in-election-marks-historic-time-for-haywood-politics/article_f86640ca-74c3-11ed-a929-a7cb0eba2dcf.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221207154059/https://www.themountaineer.com/news/republican-dominance-in-election-marks-historic-time-for-haywood-politics/article_f86640ca-74c3-11ed-a929-a7cb0eba2dcf.html| archive-date =December 7, 2022| access-date = May 26, 2023}}</ref>