CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As thousands of Charlotte voters head to the polls on Election Day, some changes to city leadership are imminent.
Many familiar faces are expected to return to Charlotte City Council, as many councilmembers are running unopposed. However, one council member is not seeking re-election and district 3 will have a new council member.
Plus, the races in districts 3 and 6 are expected to be competitive.
"Those are the two races that have challengers," Michael Dickerson, director of Mecklenburg County’s board of elections explained. "Obviously, all the other candidates are running, but 6 and 3 have a Democratic and Republican running."
A new face will soon represent district 3 in Charlotte. Democrat Tiawana Brown and Republican James Bowers are competing for the seat. Neither has served on the city council before.
The current district 3 representative, Victoria Watlington, is gunning for an at-large council seat, which means Brown or Bowers will take her place.
Republican council member Tariq Bokhari has represented district 6 since 2017. His challenger, Democrat Stephanie Hand, will try once again to beat him.
In the last local election, Hand held the lead among early voters, but Bokhari ultimately won with 357 more votes.
Dickerson said about 40,000 people voted early in this election, which is the highest the county has seen in the last five local elections. "Most of our early voters were Democrats. Second highest was unaffiliated, and third were the Republican voters," said Dickerson.
People who voted early noticed one familiar name, Mayor Pro Tem Braxton Winston, was not on the ballot.
Winston has served on the city council since 2017 but is skipping this election to focus on his campaign to be North Carolina’s next Labor Commissioner. That election is in 2024.
Mecklenburg County polling places open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and close at 7:30 p.m. Voters will also decide on the $2.5 billion school bond referendum and who will serve on the CMS school board.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.