Under fire over late-night encounter, Mooresville mayor hints that he may resign
Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney hinted at Monday night’s Town Board meeting that he may resign well before his current two-year term ends in November 2027.
Carney said he considered leaving his seat early well before controversy erupted about his late-night visit with a woman one overnight in Town Hall in October 2024, which has led to allegations of retaliation by town officials and litigation.
Carney addressed his future at Monday’s meeting after town commissioner Dana Tucker asked what further the board intended to do about the mayor. In April, the board voted 4-to-2 to express no confidence in the mayor and ask that he resign.
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer the day after the vote, Carney said he would not resign.
Responding to Tucker Monday night, Carney told the board that “the biggest and most important thing we have to do is get the (2026-27) budget passed.”
Then, he said, “I’ll happily sit down with each and every one of you, have a conversation on what the future looks like. But to not discuss this board passing a budget is politically immature.”
“Once the budget passes, the conversation will then be, how do my wife and I get back to the wonderful life that we’ve had — and we have given plenty to this community over the years,” Carney said. “And I’m happy to go back to doing as much for this community as I can, as a citizen.”
Carney said his son recently graduated from college, and “my wife and I have many wonderful years ahead.”
The mayor also said he openly discussed leaving office early even before he was elected to a second term in November. “So it had always been my intent that I possibly don’t make it to the end of this term, way before any of this,” he said, referring to publicity over the late-night encounter.
A civil lawsuit by WBTV sparked attention to the mayor’s conduct. The lawsuit requests the release of town hall video from the night of the encounter.
The mayor didn’t have pants on “for an extended period,” according to the WBTV complaint in court.
The case is before the N.C. Court of Appeals, with a hearing unlikely until August, lawyer Lauren Johnson, who represents WBTV, recently told The Charlotte Observer.
Mayor pro tem to talk with mayor
Tucker told fellow commissioners Monday that they could at least consider holding a town hall meeting specifically to hear from residents about whether Carney should resign.
The commissioners held no vote Monday on what more to do about the mayor. Mayor Pro Tem Eddie Dingler said the consensus among board members was to hold off on further action against Carney until after the budget vote in June.
“Are we in some way concerned about the budget and our ability to come to a consensus on it (without the mayor)?” Tucker asked.
Tucker looked at Carney and said the mayor ”defied” the board’s April vote that it lost trust and confidence in him and requesting that he resign. “And then we make The Wall Street Journal,” he said, referring to a story the newspaper published about the controversy.
Before the board moved into a closed executive session on other issues, Dingler asked fellow board members “to let me and the mayor have a discussion (after the budget is passed). We’ll figure out the right thing. And then we’ll circle back with the board.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 2:40 PM.