Charlotte Primary Election Newsletter
PRIMARY ELECTION ANALYSIS
Only eight percent of registered voters turned out to the Charlotte primary election yesterday to vote in local elections. With deep Democratic fields for mayor and at-large seats on the city council, Charlotte saw some close races, but outcomes were largely as expected. The general election on November 3rd will determine the city’s potentially fifth mayor in three years.
Charlotte Mayor
Jennifer Roberts led the Democratic field at the polls, but she was unable to reach the 40 percent of votes required to clinch the race outright. She and current Mayor Dan Clodfelter will meet in a runoff on October 6th to determine their party’s candidate for the November general election. Clodfelter narrowly edged out three-time city councilman David Howard by roughly 650 votes to make it into the runoff.
Roberts has maintained a fundraising advantage over other primary candidates of both parties, but Clodfelter has experienced a late cash infusion that may have been the push needed to propel him to the runoff. With approximately $55,000 cash-on-hand, Roberts still led Clodfelter’s $43,000 at the pre-primary filing.
Edwin Peacock, a moderate Republican, handily defeated conservative candidate Scott Stone for the Republican bid. As of the September 8th pre-primary disclosure filing, Peacock has the most cash-on-hand of any candidate with about $157,000.
City Council At-Large
Two incumbents, David Howard and Michael Barnes, forewent their seats to run for mayor this year. The guaranteed two open seats drew a large, diverse crowd to the at-large primary. Four top vote-getting Democrats will go on to face Republican candidates, all of whom will be vying for the four at-large seats on city council.
The two incumbent Democrats, Vi Lyles and Claire Fallon, both made it to the November ticket. Lyles led the primary in her sophomore election. Fallon slid into fourth place, being outpaced in the primary by former councilman James Mitchell returning to local politics, as well as political newcomer Julie Eiselt.
Republican voters had no city council choices to make in the primary.
PRIMARY ELECTION OUTCOMES
| CANDIDATES - DEM | % | CANDIDATES - REP | % | ||
| Mayor | |||||
| Jennifer Roberts | 35.77 | → | Edwin Peacock, III | 66.17 | |
| *Dan Clodfelter | 25.78 | Scott Stone | 33.83 | ||
| David Howard | 23.70 | ||||
| Michael Barnes | 13.98 | ||||
| City Council, At-Large | |||||
| *Vi Lyles | 18.74 | ||||
| James (Smuggie) Mitchell | 17.29 | ||||
| Julie Eiselt | 12.71 | ||||
| *Claire Green Fallon | 11.75 | ||||
| Billy Maddalon | 9.31 | ||||
| Darrell Bonapart | 8.96 | ||||
| Mo Idlibby | 6.61 | ||||
| Bruce Clark | 3.78 | ||||
| Aaron Sanders | 3.35 | ||||
| Shawn Greeson | 3.12 | ||||
| Sean Gautam | 2.31 | ||||
| Laurence Bibbs | 2.06 | ||||
| City Council, District 2 | |||||
| *Al Austin | 78.23 | ||||
| Steven Jones | 21.77 | ||||
| City Council, District 3 | |||||
| *LaWana Mayfield | 59.60 | ||||
| Warren Turner | 33.69 | ||||
| Rosa Hodge-Mustafa | 6.71 | ||||
| City Council, District 5 | |||||
| *John Autry | 74.50 | ||||
| Scott Derek Jenkins | 25.50 | ||||
*Indicates incumbent candidate