Who will run for City Council and school board?
Candidate filing starts next week; here's what we're hearing
The following article appeared in the June 30, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
All the informed scuttlebutt we could find on who’s running for city council and school board this year
Will there be new faces on the Charlotte City Council this year? What about the school board? Candidate filing starts July 7. (Ledger file photo of 2022 swearing-in ceremony)
Don’t look now, but it’s about to be local election season.
Filing for all 11 Charlotte City Council seats and Charlotte mayor, and six of nine school board seats, starts on July 7.
Very little is official, but we talked with a handful of Charlotte politicians and political operatives to glean the latest scuttlebutt and gossip about what this November’s election might look like.
◼️ Charlotte mayor. Will she or won’t she? All eyes will be on Mayor Vi Lyles to see if she files to run for a fifth term as Charlotte’s mayor. If she doesn’t run again, it could be a battle royale in the Democratic primary on Sept. 9, with several council members expected to be suitors-in-waiting for the role. But most pros think she will run again. Though she might not be enjoying it as much as she used to, she might perceive that the city needs her leadership after a recent series of black eyes (police chief settlement, Tiawana Brown indictment), and if the transit referendum passes, she could be there to start to get transit moving and cement her legacy.
◼️ Charlotte City Council. All the incumbents elected two years ago are expected to run again (assuming there’s no shake-up in the mayoral race). And it is usually tough to beat incumbents. Democrats control the council 9-2, but some divisions cross party lines. Some of the races attracting attention:
At-large. There had been some speculation that former Democratic council member Braxton Winston would run again, after losing his race for labor commissioner. But he’s not believed to be running, so it could be smooth sailing for incumbents James Mitchell, Victoria Watlington, Dimple Ajmera and LaWana Mayfield.
District 3: Incumbent Democrat Tiawana Brown, who is under federal indictment on fraud charges, faces at least two primary challengers in her west Charlotte/Steele Creek district: nonprofit worker Joi Mayo and nonprofit executive Montravias King.
District 4: It’s looking like a rematch of 2023 in this University City district, with incumbent Democrat Renee Johnson expected to face housing construction manager Wil Russell in September’s primary. Mayor Lyles previously backed Russell, who lost 52%-41%. (Awkward!)
District 5: Two-term incumbent Democrat Marjorie Molina is facing a challenge from Juan Diego “JD” Mazuera Arias in this eastside seat. He describes himself as a “public servant, organizer and policy advocate.”
District 6: Republican Edwin Peacock was appointed to fill the term of Tariq Bokhari, who resigned to take a job in Washington. Peacock pledged not to run for the south Charlotte seat — though there is low-grade buzz he might run for something else. Bokhari’s wife, Krista, is expected to run for the open seat. Democrat Kimberly Owens, a corporate lawyer active in local nonprofits, says she is running. It’s unclear if Stephanie Hand, who lost to Bokhari in the last two elections, will run again, but local pros we talked to are betting no.
◼️ School board: The six district seats are up for election this year. If you thought nobody was paying attention to the City Council races, even fewer are tuning in to school board races (which are nonpartisan). But here is some of the intrigue we’re hearing:
District 2: Incumbent Thelma Byers-Bailey is not running again, opening this west Charlotte seat. Byers-Bailey has endorsed nonprofit leader Shamaiye Haynes, who ran for an at-large seat in 2023.
District 6: This south Charlotte/Matthews/Mint Hill district race could be interesting. Incumbent Summer Nunn is expected to face a challenge from Anna London, the CEO of Charlotte Works, a nonprofit that coordinates workforce development efforts in Mecklenburg County. It’s intriguing because Charlotte Works’ board chair is Raki McGregor, CMS’ chief executive in residence whose wife has a CMS consulting contract that was raised to $500,000 a year this year, which some board members objected to, according to a Charlotte Observer article last month. Nunn was one of two sitting CMS board members to vote “no” on appointing Crystal Hill superintendent. So you would have an incumbent who has not been a rubber stamp for the CMS administration running against a newcomer with a solid link to someone tight with the CMS administration. Hmm!
There are also elections this year in Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville.
Candidate filing runs from July 7 to July 18. —Tony Mecia
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