Congressman Heath Shuler (D), Senator Richard Burr (R) and state Senator Tom Apodaca&bsp; (R) retained their seats during Tuesdays election, according to unofficial results.

In district 11 overall, Shuler defeated Jeff Miller, winning 129,693 votes compared to Millers 109,217 votes. In Polk County, however, Miller received 3,972 votes compared to 3,751 votes for Shuler. Miller was also the choice of Henderson County voters.

Burr retained his seat in the U.S. Senate, defeating Elaine Marshall (D). Burr was also Polk Countys choice with 4,415 Polk County votes for Burr, compared to 3,049 Polk County votes for Marshall. Michael Beitler (L) received 204 votes in Polk County. Total district results for the Burr race were not available as of press time yesterday.

N.C. Senator Tom Apodaca will also retain his seat, defeating Chris Dixon by a wide margin. Apodaca also took the majority of Polk County votes. Apodaca received 43,254 total votes or almost 66 percent, compared to Dixon with 22,339 or 34 percent. In Polk County, Apodaca received 4,545 compared to Dixons 3,034.

An amendment to the N.C. Constitution banning convicted felons from running for county sheriff offices was approved throughout the state. Polk County had 6,659 votes for the amendment and 931 votes against the amendment.