Who's running for Charlotte City Council in 2025

• Primary Election Day is Tuesday, Sept. 9. Early voting starts Thursday, Aug. 21. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Mayor

Democrats:

• Vi Lyles is running for a fifth term. She's on the verge of cementing a legacy with the push to pass the 1-cent transportation sales tax. She says there's more to accomplish on affordable housing, safety and creating opportunities for Charlotteans.
• Jaraun (Gemini) Boyd is a former prison inmate turned community activist. He founded Project BOLT, an organization dedicated to improving "the quality of life for marginalized citizens in our community."
• Delter Kenny Guin III
• Brendan K. Maginnis lost to Pam Genant in the 2024 Democratic primary for North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, the role now held by former state House Speaker Tim Moore.
• Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel has vied unsuccessfully over the years for mayor, county commission, state house and soil and water conservation district supervisor.

Republican:

• Terrie D. Donovan

Libertarian:

• Rob Yates has run in the past as the Libertarian candidate for mayor and North Carolina Senate.

At-Large

• Voters will elect four people to the at-large seats, representing the entire city.

Democrats:

• Dimple Ajmera is an incumbent who was part of city council's millennial takeover in 2017. Ajmera chairs the city's budget committee.

• James (Smuggie) Mitchell has a long history of serving on city council dating back to 1999 as a District 2 representative. He reclaimed his at-large seat in 2022 after resigning, briefly, over a potential conflict of interest.
• Victoria Watlington was elected to her at-large seat as the top vote-getter in the 2023 general election and, before that, represented District 3 starting in 2019.
• She has been at the center of the police chief settlement controversy this year after she suggested the city government engaged in "unethical, immoral, and, frankly, illegal activities." Her statements, made in a May email to supporters, prompted an investigation by the city attorney.
• LaWana Slack-Mayfield was first elected at-large in 2022 and previously served District 3 from 2011 through 2018.
• Matt Britt chairs Smart Start of Forsyth County and co-chairs NC Pre-K.
• Roderick Davis
• Will Holley is a mental health advocate who owns a construction business. His campaign website states he's running because he "knows what it feels like to have his voice ignored" after his oldest son died by suicide.
• J.G. Lockhart
• Emerson Stoldt is an architect and self-described urbanist whose platform includes smart growth and development.
• Namrata (N.Y.) Yadav describes herself as "a mother, a corporate executive, and a proud Charlottean" on her campaign website.

Republicans:

• Misun Kim was Mayor Lyles' Republican challenger in 2023. She lost with just 18,713 votes, compared to Lyles' 64,564.
• Edwin Peacock is currently serving as the District 6 representative. He was appointed in May to fill the seat Tariq Bokhari vacated in April. Peacock was the last Republican at-large council member from 2007 to 2011.

District 1

📍 Southeast (Dilworth, Plaza-Midwood, Grier Heights, Freedom Park, Myers Park, Eastover, Elizabeth, Chantilly and Windsor Park)

Democrats:

• Dante Anderson is Charlotte's mayor pro tem.
• Charlene Henderson El serves on the city's Community Relations Committee and as vice president on the board of S.A.V.E., a nonprofit that strives to make "children job-ready instead of jail-ready."

District 2

📍 North (Third and Fourth Wards, Wesley Heights)

• Malcolm Graham is an incumbent council member and former state senator. He chairs the Jobs and Economic Development Committee, which makes recommendations on decisions like contributing money to the Panthers' stadium and the Eastland Yards redevelopment.
• He published a book this year about the 2015 massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church. His sister — Cynthia Graham Hurd — was one of nine people killed.

District 3

📍West

Democrat:

• Tiawana Brown is one of the newer faces on city council, elected in 2023. Earlier this year, she was federally indicted for allegedly securing $124,000 in pandemic loans in 2021 and spending the funds on personal and luxury items.

• Brown served four years in federal prison in the '90s for felony fraud charges and later founded a nonprofit to prevent the incarceration of women and girls.
• Montravias King has suspended his campaign to endorse Brown, although his name is still on the ballot.
• Joi Mayo is the founder of Transforming Nations Ford and a board member of ​Steele Creek Community Place, among other community leadership positions.
• Warren Turner was one of Brown's opponents in 2023.

Republican:

• James Bowers ran for the same seat in the last election but lost to Brown.

District 4

📍Northeast (University)

Democrats:

• Renee Perkins Johnson is an incumbent and founded Triumph Services, an organization providing services to survivors of trauma, including those with acquired brain injuries.
• Wil Russell is an affordable housing construction manager, endorsed by Vi Lyles in the most recent election. The mayor's attempt to oust Johnson failed by 450 votes.

District 5

📍 East (Areas near portions of North Sharon Amity Road, Albemarle Road, Rama Road and Idlewild Road)

Democrats:

• Marjorie Molina is a bilingual council member representing this diverse district. Much of her first two terms have been focused on executing the vision for the Eastland Mall redevelopment.
• Juan Diego (J.D.) Mazuera Arias chairs the Hispanic Democratic Caucus of Mecklenburg County and founded the North Carolina Latino Political Caucus, according to his campaign website.

District 6

📍 South (SouthPark)

• Tariq Bokhari left the District 6 seat earlier this year as he took a role with the Federal Transit Administration under President Trump. Republican Edwin Peacock, a former council member, was appointed to finish out his term.
• This is one of the most competitive districts in Charlotte. It's one of only two seats held by a Republican on the 11-member council. Registered voters are 43% unaffiliated, 28% Democrat and 28% Republican.

Democrat:

• Kimberly Owens is a lawyer who has served nonprofits like Council for Children's Rights and done advocacy work with Moms Demand Action and Planned Parenthood.

Republicans:

• Krista Bokhari is the wife of former council member Tariq Bokhari. She came close to being appointed to fill her husband's vacated seat for the remainder of his term, but Mayor Lyles broke a tie and selected Peacock instead.
• Bokhari entered politics last year with an unsuccessful campaign for state House.
• Sary Chakra was one of the applicants who sought to fill Tariq Bokhari's seat.

District 7

📍Southeast (Ballantyne)

Republican:

• Ed Driggs, one of the only two Republican voices on council, faces no challenger this election. He chairs the Transportation, Planning and Development Committee.

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