ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Four years ago, Kim Roney lost her bid to unseat Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer by more than 3,100 votes. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, she defeated the same opponent by more than 7,300 votes.

That’s quite a turnaround.

A comparison of results from the 2022 and 2026 elections shows just how much Asheville’s mayoral race changed in four years. Roney didn’t simply benefit from a decline in support for Manheimer. She attracted thousands more votes than she received in their first matchup, even as more ballots were cast in the race.

In 2022, Manheimer won a third term with 21,032 votes, or 53.43%, compared with Roney’s 17,918 votes, or 45.52%.

This year, those numbers flipped dramatically.

According to the latest unofficial results from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Roney received 25,676 votes, or 57.88%, while Manheimer finished with 18,375 votes, or 41.42%.

Roney’s share of the vote increased by more than 12 percentage points, while the margin between the two candidates shifted more than 24 percentage points in her favor.

And the shift wasn’t just about percentages.

Roney received 7,758 more votes than she did four years ago, an increase of about 43%. Manheimer, meanwhile, received 2,657 fewer votes, a decline of nearly 13%.

The total number of votes cast in the mayoral race also increased, from 39,365 in 2022 to 44,362 in 2026.

That’s nearly 5,000 additional votes in a race that ended with a very different result.

Early voting tells another part of the story

One of the biggest changes came before Election Day.

In 2022, Manheimer held a commanding advantage among early voters, receiving 13,147 votes to Roney’s 9,941. That gave the incumbent a lead of 3,206 votes among those who voted early.

This year, Roney turned that advantage around.

She received 19,066 early votes, compared with 14,164 for Manheimer, giving Roney a lead of 4,902 votes among early voters.

That’s a reversal of more than 8,100 votes in the early-voting margin between the two elections.

Roney also led among Election Day voters in both races.

In 2022, she received 6,714 Election Day votes to Manheimer’s 6,078. This year, Roney’s Election Day advantage was considerably larger, with 5,690 votes to Manheimer’s 3,254.

Manheimer maintained a narrow lead among absentee-by-mail voters in 2026, receiving 957 votes to Roney’s 920. Four years earlier, Manheimer had led that category by 547 votes.

The figures show that Roney’s gains extended beyond Election Day voters, with the most dramatic reversal occurring among those who voted early.

The numbers don’t show whether individual voters switched candidates, but they do reveal a substantial shift in support between the two elections.

A different Asheville four years later

The two elections took place in a city that experienced considerable change between 2022 and 2026.

Tropical Storm Helene devastated parts of Asheville in September 2024, leaving residents, businesses and local governments facing a long and costly recovery.

Housing affordability, development, homelessness and the city’s future have also remained prominent issues.

Those challenges formed part of the backdrop to this year’s election, although the vote totals alone cannot establish which issues influenced individual voters or why some changed their support.

The results do show that Roney expanded her support considerably while Manheimer, who had served as mayor since 2013, received fewer votes than she did in their previous matchup.

In 2022, Manheimer finished 3,114 votes ahead of Roney. Four years later, Roney finished 7,301 votes ahead of Manheimer.

For Asheville, the result means a change in leadership at City Hall after more than a decade under Manheimer.

For Roney, it marks a political comeback four years in the making.

And for anyone looking at the numbers, one thing is clear: Asheville voters delivered a much different verdict the second time around.

The 2026 results remain unofficial until certified by election officials.