Gary Parris Wins Republican Primary, Will Challenge Sheriff Quentin Miller in November

Gary Parris, a 68-year-old retired naval officer and former Department of Defense contractor, captured the Republican nomination for Buncombe County sheriff on March 3, 2026, winning 7,954 votes, or about 74.9% of the tally, to Victor “Vic” Morman’s 2,669 votes. The totals come from unofficial returns carried by the N.C. State Board of Elections with 100% of precincts reporting.

The margin leaves Parris as the clear Republican contender for the November general election against incumbent Sheriff Quentin Miller. Miller, a Democrat first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, had no Democratic primary opponent and remains the county’s sitting sheriff heading into the fall contest.

Parris’s campaign record and timeline are specific: he filed for sheriff on Dec. 1, 2025, completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey on Jan. 25, 2026, and has said he wants to “modernize and bring new technology” to the sheriff’s office. Parris spent three years early in his career with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, served a decorated 22-year career in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a Department of Defense contractor. He has framed his platform around improving office culture and “enforcing the rule of law for the safety of everyone.”

Victor Morman, 56, ran as Parris’s only Republican challenger and is identified as a former sheriff’s sergeant who began his law enforcement career roughly three decades ago with the Asheville Police Department. Morman later served in the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office under two administrations and told reporters he felt a “calling” to lead the office; he received 2,669 votes, about 25.1% of the primary total.

With the primary results recorded as unofficial, certification from the N.C. State Board of Elections remains the formal next step. The raw vote counts in this race - 7,954 for Parris and 2,669 for Morman - are the figures parties will use as they shift from primary to general-election strategy.

The outcome gives Buncombe County voters a November choice between Miller, who has led the sheriff’s office through two election cycles, and Parris, whose campaign emphasizes technology and cultural change after a career spanning local law enforcement, the Navy and federal contracting. Campaign calendars now move toward county and statewide filing and finance deadlines ahead of the November 2026 general election.