Towns across North Carolina held local elections on Tuesday. In several races in the Triangle, challengers defeated incumbents, injecting new blood into the governance of those towns. Listed below are election results for towns across Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. Raleigh did not hold elections this year, as the city council moved its election cycle to even-numbered years. All election results so far are unofficial, with some recounts or challenges possible.
Durham city
Incumbent Leonardo Williams has won re-election as Durham Mayor. Williams handily defeated first-time candidate Anjanee Bell, the daughter of longtime mayor Bill Bell, by more than 16 percentage points. Williams will now serve a second term, having first been elected mayor in 2023.
DeDreana Freeman lost her bid for re-election to the Ward I seat on the Durham City Council. Matt Kopac, who has experience on the Durham Planning Commission, won in the tightest race of the night in Durham by about six points. Freeman was first elected in 2017.
Another incumbent, Mark-Anthony Middleton, also lost his bid for re-lection. Shanetta Burris will now represent Ward II after winning by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Burris is a training manager who says she will “center the needs of people over personal gain and bring a responsive voice to city leadership.”
And in Ward III, Chelsea Cook held on to her seat. The clinical law professor at Duke University was appointed to the City Council in 2024. She easily won her first election, defeating Diana Medoff by about 50 percentage points.
All of the winners were endorsed by the progressive People’s Alliance Political Action Committee.
Wake County
Municipal elections in North Carolina are generally nonpartisan, but the race in Cary featured six candidates for three seats who leaned in to their party affiliation more than candidates in most other towns. In those races, the three Democrats defeated three Republicans. Incumbents Jennifer Robinson and Carissa Johnson retained their seats and newcomer Bella Huang will join them on the council next year.
In Apex, Sue Mu, Shane Reese, and incumbent Ed Gray were the highest voter getters, each receiving nearly one-quarter of the overall vote. The election focused on issues including traffic congestion, property rights, affordable housing, as well as the proposed UNC Children's Hospital and a proposed data center near town limits.
In Wendell, the race for three council seats featured eight candidates, including musician BJ Barham, lead singer of American Aquarium. As of late Tuesday night, Barham was in fourth place, but trailed third by fewer than 60 votes. The top three vote getters with four of five precincts reporting were Dustin Ingalls, Kate Benson, and Deans Eatman, the only incumbent in the race.
In Wake Forest, challenger Ben Clapsaddle, a sitting member of the board of commissioners, defeated incumbent mayor Vivian Jones. Haseeb Fatmi received the most votes for the board of commissioners and will serve with Keith Shackleford, who won re-election. Incumbent commissioner Nick Sliwinski finished fourth with about 5% of the vote.
In Fuquay-Varina, it appeared that Bill Harris had defeated incumbent mayor Blake Massengill. On the board of commissioners, incumbent Bryan Haynes won re-election alongside newcomer Kristopher Vorren.
In Garner, two candidates far outpaced the other four. Incumbent Gra Singleton and Kelvin Stallings stood as likely winners, with incumbent Kathy Behringer gathering less than 10% of the vote.
In Holly Springs, Mike Kondratick held a commanding lead over incumbent mayor Sean Mayefskie. On the council, incumbent Annie Drees won re-election alongside challengers Sarah Larson and Kara Foster, receiving a higher vote tally than incumbent Tim Forrest.
Orange County
In Carrboro, Mayor Barbara Foushee will serve another term as mayor after securing 95% of the vote. The council race was effectively uncontested, with three candidates running for three spots. Incumbents Danny Nowell and Cristobal Palmer and newcomer Fred Joiner will serve on the council.
In Chapel Hill, incumbents Camille Berry and Paris Miller-Foushee won re-election, and will be joined by Louie Rivers III and Wes McMahon. Mayor Jess Anderson ran unopposed and was re-elected as well.
