Clay GOP meeting features Supreme Court candidate; Trump endorses Balkom

Hayesville, N.C. — The Clay County Republican Party will hold its regular monthly meeting Thursday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Clay County Community Center, 25 Riverside Drive.

Light refreshments, snacks and desserts will be available at 6:30 p.m., with the business meeting beginning at 7 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring a covered-dish snack or dessert to share.

The special guest speaker will be Sarah Stevens, a Republican candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2026. Stevens has said the law should be applied as written and that judges should not create laws from the bench. She has pledged to respect the state constitution and apply principles of conserving liberty in every case if elected.

Stevens graduated from Mount Airy High School, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Campbell University School of Law. She served as president of the Surry County Bar Association and maintained a private law practice for more than 30 years. She previously served as a Republican member of the N.C. House of Representatives, chaired the House Elections Committee, served as speaker pro tempore of the House and chaired the N.C. Courts Commission.

Stevens and her husband, Edwin, live in Mount Airy and have five children. More information is available at sarahstevensnc.com.

In related news, former President Donald Trump has endorsed Jennifer Balkom of Henderson County as the Republican candidate in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Congressman Chuck Edwards resigned from the 2026 race on Aug. 5 following a report from the U.S. House Ethics Committee. The 11th District Republican Party Executive Committee met Aug. 10 and selected Balkom, a current state legislator, as the replacement nominee. Trump subsequently expressed his full support for Balkom’s candidacy.