In Gaston County’s Riverbend Township, an unlikely candidate is making waves
Charley Killian never envisioned himself in politics. He hates public speaking, and grew up on a farm that has been in his family since 1864.
But this year, he’s seeking to unseat a 16-year incumbent representing Riverbend Township on Gaston County Commission, Chad Brown — as a write-in candidate.
The Killian family farm sits in Riverbend Township, which borders Lincoln County, on a road that shares their last name. Killian works as a civil engineer and the farm is more of a hobby for him, although he says he “was always trying to find a way to get back to it.” That passion for the land, though, is what eventually pulled him into his campaign.
It started with a massive piece of property in the township — county-protected watershed near Mountain Island Lake, a major supplier of clean water for the Charlotte region. A large piece of the property, primarily Woodcock Farm, was bought, and many local farmers in the area were under the impression that it would still be protected. But it quietly went up for sale, and the developer who bought it, Riverbend Preserve LLC, submitted a rezoning request to put a large development there.
The local planning board issued its decision on March 6, 2023, unanimously recommending that the county reject the rezoning. In the board’s statement of consistency, they wrote that the request was “not reasonable” or “in the public interest” for multiple reasons, including the environmental impact on Mountain Island watershed.
Killian and other people in Riverbend Township felt vindicated — especially since they had been voicing their concerns to Commissioner Brown. But on March 28, 2023, the Board of Commissioners awkwardly voted to approve the rezoning, with Commissioner Brown introducing the motion. One commissioner was opposed.
“I believed this was in Gaston County’s best overall interest,” Brown told The Election Hub, and pointed to the multiple layers of negotiation that went into the development and restrictions imposed on it. “Asking questions or raising concerns during the process did not mean I had already committed myself to a particular vote.”
Killian told The Election Hub that he was shocked by the approval. He told his friends and other concerned residents in Riverbend Township that if Brown was unopposed the next time he was up for reelection, he would take matters into his own hands and run.
Then in June, he realized no one else had stepped up to the challenge; on June 24, he asked on Facebook “if Brown would have an opponent in the upcoming election.”
“I said it in jest,” Killian said. “But I had to put my money where my mouth was.”
Thus began the process of becoming a candidate. He had been a registered Democrat but didn’t feel he aligned with either party; he became an unaffiliated voter, then switched to the Libertarian Party too close to the filing deadline. He began to collect signatures to be approved as a write-in candidate, and submitted over 200 — well over the 100-signature requirement — months before the deadline.
Killian says people in Gaston County seem eager for change. Rapid growth has left roads “gridlocked” and the fire department understaffed and unable to keep up with the population. The cost of living is high. Student performance is low, and teachers are paid less than in neighboring districts.
In March, an educational crisis reached its apex as Gaston County Schools made an emergency plea to the county for $10 million to avoid mass layoffs. An independent investigation into the crisis revealed that one of the reasons for the shortfall was because the county’s support had failed to keep up with inflation over the years.
This only worsened teacher pay. To balance its budget, Gaston County Schools decreased its request for teacher salary supplements. A few months after the crisis, the Board of Commissioners discussed bringing an indoor sports complex to the county, leading some — like Killian — to question the current commissioners’ priorities.
“We shouldn’t even be talking about the niceties and the fun things and the nonessentials until the essentials are met,” Killian said. “That would be very high on my priority list.”
Brown, a former professional baseball player, told The Election Hub he does not think “every county expenditure can fairly be reduced to a label of ‘need’ or ‘want’ without looking at the details.” He pointed to his support of additional funding for teacher supplements, and conceded that he believes the Board of Commissioners “need to continue looking at ways to strengthen them [the fire departments].”
“I would love to reach a point where firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public servants are compensated well enough that leaving for another jurisdiction solely for pay is much less attractive…Parks and recreation can have legitimate community and economic benefits, but they should not come at the expense of core public safety or education responsibilities. Just because someone gave a presentation of a new idea doesn’t mean we are giving thought [sic],” he wrote.
Pitching himself as ‘not a packaged politician’
Killian knows his campaign is an uphill battle. In 2022, as an unopposed candidate, Brown received 51,770 votes. But Killian doesn’t focus so much on that number as he does the total number of votes in that election, 73,684. As commissioners’ races are county-wide, this means nearly 22,000 people refrained from voting for Brown although he was the only candidate to represent Riverbend Township.
Campaigning also requires Killian to confront his fear of public speaking. At an NAACP candidate forum on Sept. 14, he stumbled through his answer to the first question, about how to ensure development supports minority-owned businesses and low-income residents. But he slowly regained his footing, using the blunder to pitch himself as “definitely not a packaged politician,” but someone who would listen to citizens and admit when they’ve made a mistake.
“I struggled probably the most out of everyone here. I’ve really been trying to learn a lot,” he said. “I just want to be the citizens’ voice. I don’t have all the answers; I don’t know. I would like to put those questions to the community and let them answer them, and say, ‘Hey, the community answered the question like that…That’s probably how I should vote.’”
He also later took to Facebook to re-answer the question.
Brown told The Election Hub he did not attend the NAACP forum because of a work conflict.
Killian is also staying hopeful by seeking the support of various groups who might be most interested in change, regardless of political party — like teachers and their families, parents who have children in Gaston County Schools, and fire department employees and others concerned about public safety funding.
Brown is a staunch supporter of President Trump, which holds weight in deep red Gaston County. In 2024, he led the Pledge of Allegiance at one of Trump’s rallies in Gastonia. Around the time, allegations circulated saying Brown referred to himself as “the Donald Trump of Gaston County” (Brown told The Election Hub he was merely repeating what someone else had called him). He also ran a competitive, albeit unsuccessful, campaign for North Carolina Secretary of State in 2024, and plans to run again.
Killian knows many in deep red Gaston County — which Trump visited last month — will likely vote for the candidate with an R next to their name, especially if their only opponent is not even listed on the ballot. Still, he’s optimistic that as voters across the political spectrum learn about him and his platform, they’ll write in his name.
“You’re supposed to be the middleman between the power-hungry executives and the citizens,” he said. “That's what got me into this thing. I really do want the citizens to feel like they’ve got a voice and they’re heard.”
Candidate platforms:
According to his website, Charley Killian’s campaign is centered on:
Stricter standards for growth and “infrastructure over occupancy”
Fully funding public schools and first responders before spending money on any “non-essential” project
Lowering the base residential property tax rate to counterbalance re-assessment hikes.
Chad Brown’s website has not been updated since his run for Secretary of State. However, he told The Election Hub that if reelected, he would prioritize addressing:
Growth and infrastructure
Public safety and fire protection
Education
Economic development and “recruiting and retaining good employees.” He said he “especially enjoys economic development,” pointing to how the Board of Commissioners helped bring manufacturer GNT USA to Gaston County in 2020.
