Voting in crucial Charlotte City Council primary ends tomorrow

Tomorrow, Sept. 12, is primary election day. Find your polling place here. They’re open 6:30am to 7:30pm.

• Only Democrats and unaffiliated voters can vote in this primary. There are no Republican races in the primaries.

Why it matters: Since Democrats perform well in Charlotte, the primaries provide a good indication of what the next city council might look like. Just 17% of registered voters in Charlotte are Republican. 44% are Democrats.

• With just one libertarian candidate, the primaries will narrow the race for four at-large seats to five candidates.
• Plus, the primaries will decide at least two district seats because there aren’t candidates from other parties running.

Zoom in: City council has a significant impact on citizens’ daily lives. They set the city tax rate. Then they have power over how tax dollars are spent.

• Should we prioritize road projects over light rails? How much should we raise the pay of first responders or the city manager?
• How much public money should we contribute toward economic development projects, like a proposed tennis venue at the River District or the Carolina Panthers stadium renovations?
• Should the government dictate development regulations, or should we grant the market more control? 

Yes, but: During early voting, 8,371 ballots were cast, according to the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections. There are more than 482,000 Democrat and unaffiliated registered Charlotte voters.

Flashback: Last election, council member Tariq Bokhari recruited a slate of Republican candidates to run for council, but they were unsuccessful. This year, only four of the races for a dozen council seats have Republican candidates.

• Charlotte is one of the few North Carolina cities with partisan elections, meaning parties show up on the ballot.

Of note: This is one of the first elections in North Carolina with the new photo ID law in place. Voters must show either a North Carolina driver’s license or another approved form of identification to vote at the polls. Otherwise, they can fill out an exemption form and vote via provisional ballot.

• Michael Dickerson, director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, tells Axios the new law didn’t pose much of an issue during the early voting period.
• There were just four exemption provisional ballots cast as of Friday.

Be smart: Find your sample ballot online here. You can also confirm you are registered to vote and find your polling place on the site.

Here are the Democratic primary races:

Mayor

• Mayor Vi Lyles is running for a fourth term.
• Lucille Puckett is trying again to beat Lyles. She previously ran in the 2022 primaries.

The Democratic nominee will face Republican candidate Misun Kim and libertarian Rob Yates in the general election.

At-Large

Voters will get to choose four of eight Democratic at-large candidates:

• Dimple Ajmera (incumbent)
• James “Smuggie” Mitchell, (incumbent)
• LaWana Slack-Mayfield (incumbent)
• Victoria Watlington (currently represents a western portion of Charlotte in District 3)
• Ben Copeland
• Charlene Henderson

The four winners of the primaries will run against libertarian candidate Steven DiFiore. He is the only non-Democrat at-large candidate.

Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston is running for North Carolina Commissioner of Labor in 2024 instead of seeking his at-large position again.

[Go deeper: Who is, and isn’t, running in Mecklenburg County 2023 elections]

District seats with Democratic primaries

District 2: Malcolm Graham (incumbent) v. Gary Young.

• There are no other party candidates, so whoever wins this seat will serve.

District 3: Tiawana Brown, Melinda Lilly and Warren Turner are facing off to succeed Watlington, who is running at large.

• The Democratic nominee will face Republican James H. Bowers in the general election.

District 4: Renee Perkins Johnson (incumbent) against Wil Russell and Olivia Scott.

• The intrigue: In an unusual move, Mayor Lyles endorsed Russell — essentially attempting to ousts a current fellow council member, Johnson.
• Johnson has served on council since 2019.

District 5: Marjorie Molina (incumbent) is defending her seat against Vinroy Reid and Curtis Hayes Jr.

• There are no other party candidates so whoever wins this seat will serve.

Of note: Democrat Dante Anderson and Republican Ed Driggs are unopposed in Districts 1 and 7, respectively.

• The most up-in-the-air race is District 6 in south Charlotte. It’s a rematch between Bokhari and Stephanie Hand, who was about 350 votes shy of beating Bokhari last election.

[Go deeper: Hot district race threatens GOP power in Charlotte]