Howard, Roberts enter Charlotte mayor’s race as filing opens
Charlotte City Council member David Howard and former Mecklenburg County commissioners’ chair Jennifer Roberts entered the race for Charlotte mayor as filing began Monday.
The start of filing traditionally brings a swarm of candidates, media and sign-bearing supporters, but Monday’s 8 a.m. kickoff was low-key, with Matthews Mayor Jim Taylor having the Board of Elections office to himself.
That’s because filing traditionally starts at noon on a Friday, which this year clashed with the Fourth of July holiday. Candidates trickled in throughout the day.
Charlotte’s mayor and City Council members, three at-large members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and other municipal posts across the county will be chosen Nov. 3.
Roberts and Howard, both Democrats, are expected to challenge incumbent Mayor Dan Clodfelter in the Democratic primary, along with City Council member Michael Barnes. Two Republicans, former council member Edwin Peacock and Scott Stone, also have announced.
In the nonpartisan school board race, Larry Bumgarner, Elyse Dashew, Levester Flowers and Amelia Stinson-Wesley filed Monday. Incumbents Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Mary McCray have said they’ll seek re-election, while Tim Morgan is stepping aside and endorsing Jeremy Stephenson, who has not yet filed.
Helms: 704-358-5033
Monday’s filings
Filing closes July 17, with primaries for the city of Charlotte on Sept. 15 and the general election Nov. 3. School board and other municipal races are nonpartisan. Track the list of candidates live at http://apps.meckboe.org/CandidatePrint.aspx
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board
(Three seats, at-large)
Larry Bumgarner, Elyse Dashew, Levester Flowers, Amelia Stinson-Wesley.
Charlotte mayor
Democrats: David Howard, Jennifer Roberts.
Charlotte City Council at large
Democrats: Darrell Bonapart, Billy D. Maddalon, James (Smuggie) Mitchell.
Republicans: David Michael Rice.
Charlotte City Council District 3
Democrats: LaWana Mayfield.
Charlotte City Council District 7
Republicans: Ed Driggs.
Cornelius town board
Denis P. Bilodeau.
Davidson mayor
John M. Woods.
Davidson town board
Stacey Anderson, Jim Fuller, Brian Jenest.
Huntersville mayor
John Aneralla.
Matthews mayor
James P. (Jim) Taylor.
Matthews town board
John F. Higdon, Nobie K. Thrasher, John R. Urban, Larry Whitley.
This story was originally published July 5, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Howard, Roberts enter Charlotte mayor’s race as filing opens."