Key Municipal Races To Watch Election Night 2025
In odd years in North Carolina holds several races for local office across the state. This year, over 550 cities towns and villages will hold local elections. This piece will examine five of the most notable races on the ballot this year. Most of these races are officially “non-partisan” but its often painfully obvious that most of these races are as partisan as any other race.
Here are some of the top municipal races to watch on election night, November 4th, 2025, and what they say about the future of North Carolina politics.
Charlotte Mayor and City Council Races
Amid the increase in violent crimes, exemplified by the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, will likely receive the most attention on Election Night. As the Blue Ridge Times previously reported, Charlotte Republicans announced their General Election campaign with a commitment to crack down on violent crime. Here are the key races:
Charlotte Mayor: Republican Terrie Donovan is challenging Democrat Vi Lyles, who has been the mayor since 2018. During her time as mayor, Charlotte’s murder rate has nearly doubled, and Lyles refuses to work with the Trump administration to stop the most recent violent crime surge.
Charlotte City Council 6th District: Republican Krista Bokhari is the Republican nominee. She is a long-time community advocate, running on a commitment to increase public safety and protect neighborhoods. Kimberly Owens is the Democrat nominee, who proudly touts her endorsement from a dark money progressive group that pushes radical policies.
Charlotte At-Large: Republican Ed Peacock and Misun Kim are the Republican candidates. Charlotte voters may choose up to four candidates, and the four Democrats are incumbents and are largely responsible for the surge in violent crime Charlotteans are facing.
Bottom Line: If Republicans can secure victory in these races real work can be begin to address the public safety crisis in Charlotte.
Suburban races to keep an eye on:
These are some of the races in suburban municipalities worth keeping an eye on. The suburban races provide helpful insights into the political leanings of the suburbs, which often determine the outcome of statewide contests.
Huntersville Mayor
Two years ago, Democrats swept every office in Huntersville, and this election features a rematch between Mayor Christy Clark and former Commissioner Derek Partee. Clark rose to prominence as an anti-gun activist, attracting substantial attention for haranguing Harris Teeter for selling pro-second amendment koozies. Apparently, “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death” is a highly offensive slogan to liberals like Christy Clark.
Clark was elected to the House in 2018 but was defeated in 2022. After she was elected mayor in 2020, she pushed through a substantial property tax hike, that is now a key issue in the 2025 mayoral election.
Holly Springs
Holly Springs is a Wake County suburb of Raleigh that has exploded in recent years in population and has become increasingly Republican. Holly Springs voters will vote for a mayor and three at-large seats on the City Council.
The Wake County Republican Party endorsed Sean Mayefskie for reelection. And the Republican Party endorsed Tim Forrest, Joe Cuccurullo, and Josh Prizer for the three city council positions. The Republicans are campaigning on a plan to continue the economic growth Holly Springs has experienced with steady leadership
On the Democrat side, Mike Kondratick is pushing a radical agenda, occasionally hinting at a development moratorium. The other Democrats running for city council are mostly activists with limited experience in city government.
Wendell
Similar to Holly Springs, Wendell has exploded in population in recent years. The Wake County GOP officially endorsed two candidates: Wes Jones and Jorge Cordova.
However, on the other side of the aisle, there are several Democrats with a long history of left-wing activism. The complete opposite of small-town North Carolina.
Dustin Ingalls is a long-time progressive operative who has worked for left-wing dark money groups, a radical environmental group, and mostly just trolls people on Twitter.
There is a slate of candidates led by B.J. Barham, who previously campaigned for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. While Barham is often touring the country, pushing his left-wing agenda, he is aligned with two other candidates. One of those candidates is Philip Tarnaski, who was unendorsed by the Wake County Republican Party.
