91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn

2023 North Carolina election results: Durham, Chapel Hill get new mayors

Voters walk into the Town Hall in Fremont, N.C. to vote on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022.
Matt Ramey

Voters in North Carolina went to the polls on Tuesday to make choices in various municipal elections. They elected new mayors, commissioners, council members, sheriffs and more.

In Charlotte, mayor Vi Lyles was re-elected with 73% of the vote. In Western North Carolina, Woodfin and Sylva elected new mayors, while voters in Waynesville and Maggie Valley re-elected incumbents.

Here are a few of the other noteworthy results from around the Triangle and the state.

Carrboro

Barbara Foushee will be the next mayor of the town after she ran unopposed and garnered 96% of the vote. She will be the first Black woman to hold the office. Foushee previously served on the town council for six years. She replaces outgoing mayor Damon Selis.

Chapel Hill

Jess Anderson will be Chapel Hill's new mayor. She beat Adam Searing with nearly 59% of the vote. Both candidates previously served on the town council. Anderson succeeds Pam Hemminger, who served four terms and did not seek a fifth. Anderson is a UNC-Chapel Hill professor who teaches public policy.

Melissa McCullough, Theodore Nollert, Elizabeth Sharp and incumbent Amy Ryan were elected to the town council.

Durham

Voters in Durham have chosen Leonardo Williams as their next mayor. The city council member defeated state Senator Mike Woodard with 63% of the vote. Williams succeeds Elaine O’Neal, who was elected in 2021 and did not seek another term.

Nate Baker, Carl Rist and incumbent Javiera Caballero were elected to the council as the three top at-large vote-getters. Williams’ spot on the city council will be filled via appointment.

Fayetteville

Incumbent mayor Mitch Colvin has won a fourth term as Fayetteville’s Mayor. Colvin, 50, garnered 65% of the vote to beat challenger Freddie de la Cruz.

High Point

Cyril Jefferson will be High Point's next mayor. He defeated fellow city council member Victor Jones with nearly 56% of the vote. Current mayor Jay Wagner is stepping down to run for the Republican nomination in the sixth Congressional district.

Hillsborough

Mark Bell will be the next mayor of Hillsborough after running unopposed and getting 97% of the vote. Bell, a town board member, replaces Jennifer Weaver.

Pittsboro

Kyle Shipp, a town commissioner, will become Pittsboro’s next mayor after running unopposed. He will serve a four-year term.


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Mitchell Northam is a Digital Producer for WUNC. His past work has been featured at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SB Nation, the Orlando Sentinel and the Associated Press. He is a graduate of Salisbury University and is also a voter in the AP Top 25 poll for women's college basketball.
Bradley George is WUNC's AM reporter. A North Carolina native, his public radio career has taken him to Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville and most recently WUSF in Tampa. While there, he reported on the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of the station's Murrow award winning coverage of the 2020 election. Along the way, he has reported for NPR, Marketplace, The Takeaway, and the BBC World Service. Bradley is a graduate of Guilford College, where he majored in Theatre and German.
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