Nov 04 2009
Election Night Recap
While Republican and Democrat fortunes varied around the country, Democrats made out fairly well in Charlotte last night. Anthony Foxx was the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Charlotte since 1985, breaking a Republican hold on the office. Democrats also increased their majority on city council to eight, with Susan Burgess, Patrick Cannon, and David Howard claiming three of the four At-Large seats.
In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board races two seats changed parties and that was the predictable District 3 and District 5. James Ross, a Republican, was appointed to this very heavily Democrat seat when former board member George Dunlap won a seat on the Mecklenburg County Commission last year. The odds were against Ross winning his own term, but it didn’t stop him from trying. Rhonda Lennon (R) won the District 1 seat being vacated by Larry Gauvreau. Richard McElrath (D) defeated appointed board member Kimberly Mitchell-Walker, which was the result I wanted to see. Districts 5 went to Independent candidate Eric Davis and District 6 remained in Republican hands with political newcomer Tim Morgan winning that seat.
In Chapel Hill, Mark Kleinschmidt narrowly defeated Matt Czajkowski in the mayoral race.
There were no surprises in York County last night as former State Representative Ralph Norman (R) reclaimed his old House seat in District 48, easily defeating Democrat Kathy Cantrell by a huge margin.
In the school board run off race in Wake County, Republican John Tedesco trounced his opponent by 50 points to solidify the Republican majority on the Wake County School Board.
In Asheville, Democrats swept the City Council races there as well with Esther Manheimer, Gordon Smith, and Cecil Bothwell winning all three At-Large seats. Incumbent Republican Carl Mumpower came in fourth with 14% of the vote.
Anthony Foxx will be a great mayor.