Diana Medoff passed out pamphlets to Durham voters Tuesday afternoon at Cole Mill Road Church of Christ, her third stop of the day. Medoff, a candidate for Durham City Council Ward III, used to teach third grade, when students learn about their city. She taught them about Durham’s development, and how it wasn’t always done well — for example, when the city’s construction of the Durham Freeway displaced Black communities and businesses in the 1970s.
Today, Durham is once again facing growth. This time, Medoff thinks the city could handle it differently. It can shape inevitable population growth in a smarter way, she said.
“There were promises that just weren't kept about rebuilding homes and businesses, and so there's a lot of people here that fear growth and change, because they're thinking, ‘We're going to get kicked out,’” she said.
Medoff echoed the concerns of many North Carolina voters who traveled to the polls for Tuesday’s municipal elections. How to address population growth was on the minds of nearly every voter, from Greensboro to Apex, who spoke to Carolina Public Press.
North Carolina voters in 447 municipalities and 88 counties elected mayors, city councils, boards of education, boards of commissioners and voted on a few ballot referendums. According to an analysis from Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper, about 39% of North Carolina voters were eligible to vote.
Each municipality’s election was defined by its own local issues, candidates and drama. At stake is who will lead those communities for the next two, three or four years. Election winners will guide tax policy, development and growth, education policy and budgetary decisions.
Many of North Carolina’s municipal elections are nonpartisan — although that doesn’t stop electioneers from each political party outside the polls passing out sample ballots with their recommended candidates.
“Off-year elections historically predict the policy issues, partisan enthusiasm and voter turnout statistics for the upcoming midterm elections,” Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón told CPP.
Turnout strong for off-year
Not all municipalities in North Carolina conduct elections at the same time, or in the same years, so turnout is not quite an apples to apples comparison.
Nonetheless, turnout was up from previous municipal elections Tuesday. That’s not saying much. From 2015 to 2023, municipal turnout ranged from 14% to 17% of registered voters.
Tuesday, more than 19% of registered voters turned out.
Early voting and absentee mail in voting numbers were strong. As of Monday afternoon, nearly 222,000 ballots had been accepted by county boards of elections, according to State Board of Elections spokesperson Colin Loftin.
Since fewer voters generally show up In off-year elections, close races are much likelier.
Since voters who forget their photo ID or have some other issue that prevents them from casting an official ballot are allowed to cast provisional ballots and fix the issue before the county canvass, all Election Night tallies are unofficial. Provisional voters have until Friday at noon to fix any issues, and county boards of elections will meet Nov. 14 to certify the official results at their canvass meeting.
Durham council and mayor races
Diana Medoff didn’t win. Current councilmember Chelsea Cook defeated her by 49 percentage points. Neither did Anjanee Bell, who challenged current Durham Mayor Leo Wiliams along the same lines as Medoff — smarter, slower development that includes more affordable housing and input from Durham’s Black community. She lost by about 15 percentage points.
Even so, Durham residents will see change in their council makeup as incumbent councilmembers DeDreana Freeman and Mark-Anthony Middleton lost to their challengers, Matt Kopac and Shanetta Burris.
Williams, Middleton and fellow councilmember Carl Rist have almost always approved pro-development zoning changes, according to analysis by the Durham Dispatch. Freeman, Cook and Councilmember Nate Baker have voted against them about two-thirds of the time.
Kopac and Burris appear poised to join Cook and Baker in development discussions, which may create a more evenly divided council.
One Durham woman who talked with CPP at the polls on Tuesday said her priority was affordable housing and “not selling out to developers.”
Another voter, Chris Williams also cited affordable housing as a top issue, but had another concern: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Two weeks ago, Durham Food Hall shut down for several days after an ICE recruitment ad appeared on one of its screens, according to News & Observer reporting. Durham is home to many immigrants, and the national uptick in immigration enforcement is a tense subject.
“Our local governments are the ones that fight — the last line of defense between us and the presidential administration,” Williams said.
Greensboro council and mayor contests
Greensboro elected a new mayor on Tuesday. Current mayor Nancy Vaughan did not run for reelection, so voters had a blank slate.
They chose Marikay Abuzuaiter, the current mayor pro tem, over Robbie Perkins, former Greensboro mayor and current commercial brokerage businessman.
Voters also chose five members of the Greensboro City Council. Several incumbent city council members lost to challengers, signalling a desire for change.
In District 1, Crystal Black defeated incumbent Sharon Hightower. In District 3, April Parker bested current councilmember Zack Matheny. Incumbents did not run in Districts 2 and 4, where Cecile Crawford and Adam Marshall were elected, respectively.
The only Greensboro City Council seat that remains the same is District 5, where Tammi Thurm won reelection with 68% of the vote.
Tuesday, voters said property taxes, affordable housing and bringing business to Greensboro were top issues.
Voters Morgan and Christopher Drazek told CPP on Tuesday that they wanted their vote to balance out national politics.
“Seeing more of a liberal government at a local level, considering the broader scope of the United States right now, is something that is important,” Morgan Drazek said.
Apex council voting
While Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert was not on the ballot Tuesday, a lot of newcomers were competing in the Town Council race.
A pair of council members, Brett Gantt and Audra Killingsworth, told IndyWeek they were not running for reelection partly due to difficulties working with Mayor Gilbert, particularly on zoning, development and appointment issues. They were especially concerned about one Town Council candidate, T.J. Evans, Gilbert’s daughter’s partner.
They need not worry any longer. Evans did not place in the top three vote-getters Tuesday. Sue Mu, Shane Reese, and incumbent Ed Gray all earned 22% of the vote, beating out the other five candidates.
Apex voters who talked with CPP didn’t specifically mention the tension between the mayor and the Town Council, but they shared concerns over development and growth.
One Apex couple who has lived there for 17 years said they had seen a lot in their time in the once-small Wake County town. They feel a loss of community as the town has grown. People don’t feel as connected as they used to be, they said.
“It’s hard to have that sense of community, I think, when you’re getting so large,” the wife said.
She added that growth is inevitable and could boost the town’s tax base, but wants the town council to stop letting just anyone come in and build a six-story apartment.
“They need to find a balance,” she said.
Voter Kevin Fitzgerald agreed. He hopes his vote helps stop a data center from locating in Apex.
“Things have been changing,” he said. “The growth has gotten disproportionate, and data centers seem to be all over the place now. So, it's time to take a stand.”
Charlotte tax passes
In Charlotte, 52% of voters approved a 1-cent sales tax increase to pay for transit improvements.
The rate hike would amount to a $240 annual tax increase for the average Charlotte household. It would raise about $20 billion over the next three decades to be used to improve rail and bus services, roads, sidewalks and bike lanes.
Charlotteans have disagreed over whether the transit board that will decide how to use this money will spend it in the most equitable way, or include the people who rely on public transit the most.
Also in Charlotte, Democrats predictably swept the mayoral and city council elections, with the exception of unchallenged Republican Ed Driggs, who will keep his District 7 seat. In Charlotte, the primary election tends to decide the overall winners. The only competitive race was in District 6, where Democrat Kimberly Owens defeated Republican Krista Bokhari, the wife of a former councilmember who went to work for the Trump administration.
Fayetteville sticks with incumbents
In Fayetteville, there were few surprises.
Mayor Mitch Colvin handily won reelection against challenger Kathy Keefe Johnson.
Incumbent councilmembers Malik Davis, DJ Haire, Lynne Greene, Derrick Thompson, Brenda McNair and Dono Hondros won in Districts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9, respectively.
In districts with no incumbents running, Stephon Ferguson, Antonio Jones and Shaun McMillan beat their opponents.
Wilmington council election amid allegations
In the week before Election Day, an alleged scandal broke in Wilmington.
The North Carolina Republican Party claimed to have evidence of a vote-buying scheme involving three Democratic City Council candidates. The North Carolina State Board of Elections is aware of the allegation, according to WUNC.
While Republican City Council candidates Luke Waddell and Richard Collier outraised their opponents by tens of thousands of dollars, per a WHQR and WECT analysis, Democrats JC Lyle, Cassidy Santaguida and Chakema Clinto-Quintana took the top three spots in the election.
None were incumbents. Waddell and another incumbent candidate, Clifford Barnett, were pushed out of their seats.
However, one incumbent did win — Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo. Saffo earned nearly 50% of the vote against two opponents.
To check results for these races, or any of the other hundreds of races, visit the State Board of Elections website.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
