Upchurch won't seek another term

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Feb. 7—GUILFORD COUNTY — Republican Guilford County Commissioner James Upchurch of High Point won't run for another term next year, saying he plans to seek a different office in the 2024 elections.

Upchurch told The High Point Enterprise on Monday that he thinks he has accomplished goals that he mapped out when he first won the seat in the 2020 elections. He intends to remain a commissioner through his current term, which ends in December 2024.

Upchurch ran for and won the seat as a Democrat in 2020 but switched parties in December 2021, saying he'd grown disillusioned with the Democrats and their approaches to county business. Democrats hold a 6-3 advantage on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, and four seats will be before the voters in the 2024 elections.

Upchurch didn't reveal what office he will seek next year.

"At this time, I am not ready to make a 2024 campaign announcement, but I am planning a run for higher office," Upchurch told The Enterprise.

Upchurch serves in Guilford County Board of Commissioners District 6, which covers parts of southwestern Guilford County and north High Point.

Upchurch's announcement takes place against the backdrop of District 6 trending more Democratic since the middle of the last decade.

In the 2022 elections, Democratic school board incumbent Khem Irby won the District 6 seat with 52.6% of the vote against Republican Tim Andrew, who was supported by members of the Take Back Our Schools GCS campaign that was critical of Guilford County Schools leadership. The District 6 lines for Guilford County Board of Education races are the same as the District 6 lines for commissioner contests.

Upchurch said the trend with voting in District 6 didn't enter into his decision, though Upchurch acknowledges the Democratic tilt of the district in recent election cycles.

"But even if it was a 100% Republican district, I'd still be making the same decision," he said.

Upchurch said in two years he has fulfilled tasks he outlined when running for commissioner, such as securing county financial backing of the High Point core city redevelopment, boosting teacher pay with county dollars, passing the $1.7 school facilities bond package, increasing pay for emergency medical service personnel and Guilford County Sheriff's Office deputies, and making meetings more transparent to the public through social media.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul