Raleigh will pick a new mayor for the first time since before the pandemic

• Raleigh's next mayor — a voting member of city council — will need to lead the city across several important issues — most notably managing the city's growth and the affordability of housing.

State of play: Five candidates are vying to become mayor — but so far two candidates are considered frontrunners.

Janet Cowell, 56, has raised the most money in the race by a wide margin, received endorsements from three previous mayors and comes with an extensive resume. Her campaign is built on the idea that her experience will navigate the complexities of leading a city of nearly half a million people.

• The Boylan Heights resident is a well-known figure in Raleigh politics. She previously sat on the city council from 2001 to 2004, represented Raleigh in the N.C. Senate from 2004 and 2008 and served two terms as State Treasurer until 2017. From 2021 to 2024, she was the CEO of the Dix Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that leads the urban park.
• "When you think about the position of mayor, you need somebody with a lot of connections, because this is a soft power position," she told Axios, adding she is capable of bringing together different community coalitions, experts and data sources to make the best policy decision and build trust across neighborhoods.

Terrance "Truth" Ruth, 42, a professor at N.C. State's School of Social Work, is the other leading candidate.

• He was a relatively unknown political player in 2022, when he came within six percentage points of Baldwin, calling for the return of Citizen Advisory Councils and criticizing the city's lack of affordable housing progress.
• Ruth, who lives off Oberlin Road, has used the past two years to continue growing his name recognition around the city. "What the city is asking for is someone that can actually build a bridge between policy being created ... and communicating what's happening so that we don't feel that we're being blindsided," he told Axios.

Others running include three-time candidate Paul Fitts, 55; small-business owner Eugene Myrick, 52; and James Shaughnessy IV, 25.

Zoom in: Raleigh's next mayor will have to lead a council that will revisit reforms made to the city's zoning laws and continue to try to make a dent in the city's growing need for affordable housing.

Managing growth

Raleigh continues to attract thousands of new residents putting pressure on its existing neighborhoods and infrastructure. The previous council moved to reform its zoning laws to boost the supply of housing citywide.

Cowell believes denser building is needed in Raleigh, as the amount of empty land available dwindles. But she said it needs to be paired with a commitment to promoting tree preservation and an investment in the creek and greenway system, as well as the city's parks.

Ruth has said promoting missing-middle housing in Raleigh is a good aspiration, but he believes the lack of transparency and communication around the topic has hurt their potential effectiveness.

• "We need to have more representation so that we can hear all the voices" on topics like zoning reform, he said.
• Key upcoming choices: Raleigh is considering changes to its zoning reform and will begin drafting a new comprehensive plan next year.

Affordable housing

The city passed an $80 million affordable housing bond in 2022, but both candidates agree more needs to be done across the city.

Ruth said the city's affordable housing bond was the right choice, but he doesn't believe the city and county have done enough land acquisitions.

• With more land banking, he said, the city could leverage what it owns for more affordable housing. "There needs to be a county-wide land acquisition strategy, because if we become unaffordable in Raleigh, we're hurting Garner, we're hurting Knightdale," he said.

Cowell agrees that city land could be leveraged for more affordable housing, especially promoting mixed-use income developments at places like the old DMV headquarters.

• She's also suggested studying the use of tax increment financing, which would capture property tax increases in fast-changing areas (like around Dix Park or Bus Rapid Transit lines) and use that increased revenue to invest in more affordable housing and services for residents.
• Key choices to be made: Future of the DMV headquarters building on New Bern Avenue, which the city acquired last year. The city council will determine what is built on that land and how much will be used for affordable housing.

Community engagement

Both candidates believe the city has a lot of room to improve in how it engages residents before making big decisions, like rezonings or moving Red Hat Amphitheater.

Cowell said the city needs to do a better job of getting public input from its residents, especially connecting with people who are not as engaged and embracing underserved voices during public meetings.

• She added that the city needs to invest in its technology, too, so that people can communicate with the city via smartphones or apps instead of requiring them to come to council meetings or forums.

Ruth said the city has not brought in underserved parts of the community enough when it comes to big policy choices like bus rapid transit or zoning reforms, whether that's through technology or just hosting town halls.

• "We need somebody that's not afraid to go into the community where market pressure is the highest, which is southeast Raleigh," he said. "We need people to go into that area where they hear the concerns and lived experiences and it not seem as if it's anti the city. And right now, that's what is happening."