Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem announces her intentions for the next election
Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt announced that she will not seek another term on the City Council.
In a posting on social media late Sunday night, the three-term Democrat said “there is still much work to be done and I will continue to serve my community in other ways, to address the inequities that have left many people behind.”
Eiselt, 60, was first elected to an at-large seat in 2015. As the leading vote-getter in the 2017 and 2019 elections, she was named mayor pro tem, a mostly ceremonious title but a de facto leader of the council.
Eiselt’s path to elected office began in 2007, when a man tried to abduct her at gunpoint in a parking lot near uptown. That led to her creating Neighbors for a Safer Charlotte, a group that advocated for more court resources and other ways to make the city safer.
“I am very proud of the work we have done over my three terms to move Charlotte forward as a city that strives to improve the quality of life for all residents, and values all people equally regardless of race, religion, economic standing or gender identity.”
Eiselt attended Indiana University where she received a bachelor’s in Spanish, with minors in French and Business. She went on to receive a Master’s degree in international management and finance at The American Graduate School of International Management.
The mother of three moved to Charlotte in 1998 after a career in international banking that took her across the country and world.
Eiselt was a leader in the adoption of the city’s non-discrimination ordinance, which was unanimously approved in October and expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people and some of Charlotte’s most vulnerable residents.
Eiselt and NAACP President Corine Mack had a back-and-forth regarding “offensive comments” that Mack said Eiselt made during a private meeting last year, the Observer previously reported.
Mack filed two ethics complaints against Eiselt, saying Eiselt “told a story about how her son shared her fear about going into a predominantly Black neighborhood for fear he’ll be attacked.” Eiselt says that in fact, she had told Mack about how her son was afraid to visit a boy he mentored in a Black neighborhood in Milwaukee while violent protests were happening in that neighborhood. Eiselt called the complaints frivolous, and an outside review dismissed Mack’s complaints.
Election delay, new date
General elections for mayor and Charlotte City Council are on April 26, 2022. If a federal second primary is required, the general election will be moved to May 17, 2022. A primary is scheduled for March 8, 2022. The filing deadline for this election is Dec. 17.
Elections were moved to 2022 because of delayed census data that was needed to redraw City Council district maps, the Observer previously reported. The information, initially expected to be released in March, wasn’t available until August.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the school board general election is not April 26.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 8:36 AM.
