How Wake County voted in 2026 primaries for DA, Raleigh City Council and county commissioners
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Wake County and Raleigh voters cast votes in several important primaries on Tuesday that will decide the makeup of the county's district attorney office, the Raleigh City Council and the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
Why it matters: Wiley Nickel, a former U.S. Representative who represented parts of Wake County until his seat was redrawn, is set to become the top prosecutor in the left-leaning county after winning the Democratic primary. (No Republican filed to run in the contest in November.)
- He would replace outgoing Democrat Lorrin Freeman, who has been the district attorney since 2014.
Here's what else happened Tuesday night:
⚖️ Wake County DA
Wiley Nickel, a former U.S. representative, got 49% of the vote with all precincts reporting.
- Sherita Walton, a Raleigh Police Department lawyer whom Freeman endorsed, received 30.5%
- Melanie Shekita, an assistant Wake County DA, got 20.5% of the vote.
🌳 Raleigh City Council
With Jonathan Lambert-Melton running to be a Wake County commissioner, the Raleigh City Council is guaranteed one new member in its two at-large seats.
- The top four vote getters in last night's at-large race advance to the November election.
Zoom in: Stormie Forte, who has been on the City Council since 2020, was the top vote getter with 32.7% of the vote with all precincts reporting.
- Sana Siddiqui, an N.C. State graduate and founder of Get 2 Know Raleigh, got 23.6% of the vote.
- Clark Rinehart, the interim director of the Downtown Chapel Hill Partnership and former head of Innovate Raleigh, got 12.1%.
- Joshua Bradley, an accounting manager for a hotel and a frequently seen activist at council meetings, got 11.8%.
- James Bledsoe, a U.S. Army veteran who has run for the City Council for several cycles in a row, totaled 11.3% of the vote.
- Cameron Zamot, the owner of The Bike Library and an advocate for commuting by bike and walking, got 8.4% of the vote.
District C: Corey Branch, who has been on the council since 2015, took the highest percentage of the vote at 54.1%.
- He will face off against Jared Ollison, a Capitol police officer who got 18.8% of the vote.
State of play: This will be the last city council election when every seat will appear on the ballot at the same time, as the city transitions to four-year terms starting next year.
- The mayor, the at-large seat receiving the most votes, and districts A and B will begin four-year terms in 2026.
- The at-large seat with the second-most votes and districts C, D and E will begin a two-year term in 2026 and then run again in 2028.
🗳️ Wake County Board of Commissioners
Seven candidates vied to be the Democratic nominees for the two at-large seats on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, a body whose responsibilities range from determining the property tax rate to overseeing public libraries and health departments.
- The top two vote getters were Christine Kushner and Mona Singh.
- What's next: Kushner and Singh will face off against Gary Dale Hartong and Kyle Stogoski, two Republicans who automatically advanced to the November election.
Zoom In: Kushner, a former education board member, received 29.6% of the vote.
- Singh, a Cary tech consultant, got 21.9% of the vote.
- Jonathan Lambert-Melton, a current Raleigh City Council member, earned 18% of the vote.
- Kimberly McGhee, an entrepreneur from Raleigh, got 11% of the vote
- Steve Rao, a former Morrisville Town Council member, earned 10.9%.
- Robert Mitchener Jr., a member of the State Capitol police, got 5%.
- Marguerite Creel earned 3.7%.