Three Democrats are running for Buncombe County, North Carolina District Attorney on March 3

Three candidates– Courtney Booth, Katie Kurdys, and Martin Moore – are running in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 40th Prosecutorial District Attorney, also known as the Buncombe County District Attorney, on March 3. No Republican candidates are running. This means the winner of the primary will succeed incumbent Todd Williams (D), who is not seeking re-election.

Among the key issues in this race is how the Democratic candidates will respond to recently passed, Republican-sponsored state laws and federal immigration policies. According to Bolts Magazines’ Piper French, “Few areas of North Carolina are as liberal, and these candidates are each trying to meet the electorate where it is, denouncing the federal government’s immigration crackdowns and promising to make the court system more fair.”

Both chambers of the Legislature and Gov. Josh Stein (D) signed HB 307, also known as Iryna’s Law, in 2025 after the killing of Iryna Zarutska on Aug. 22 on a train in Charlotte. According to UNC public law and government professor Brittany Bromell, “The legislation makes a number of changes to proceedings involving pretrial release; adds a new aggravating sentencing factor; alters the way magistrates may be disciplined; and expands the permissible methods of execution, among other things.”

All three candidates completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Survey. In their responses, the candidates mentioned various topics, including Iryna’s Law, local jail population, and due process.




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