Former NC legislator, treasurer candidate announces bid for Mecklenburg Democrats chair
The Mecklenburg County Democratic Party could be under new leadership later this year.
Former state representative and Council of State candidate Wesley Harris announced a run for chair of the county party Thursday with a message to supporters and revamped campaign website.
Harris’s announcement comes after a period of tumult within the party. Current chair Drew Kromer faced criticism and calls for resignation in the wake of the 2024 general election over a staffer’s departure and allegations the party neglected African American voters.
An economist and tax consultant by trade, Harris served three terms in the North Carolina House from 2019 to 2024. He ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 2024, losing to Republican Brad Briner by a margin of 47.5% to 52.5%.
In an email to supporters announcing his candidacy for the Meck Dems chairmanship, Harris said his statewide race gave him “a front-row seat to the dysfunction that has led our core voters to lose trust in our ability to lead.”
“There was a lot of disappointment on November 5th, but the thing that stung the most to me, the one that was the most personal, was seeing Mecklenburg County drop the ball yet again,” he wrote.
Meck Dems issues
The sheer number of Democrats in the county means the party views Mecklenburg as a wealth of untapped potential for its fortunes statewide. Despite record-setting fundraising and an optimistic message about efforts to get voters to the polls in 2024, voter turnout in heavily Democratic Mecklenburg once again trailed the rest of North Carolina as Democrats failed to flip the battleground state for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Days after the general election, executive director Monifa Drayton resigned from the party with a letter that compared her experience to that of “professional Black women during the Jim Crow era.”
Multiple Black precincts chairs, including the first vice president of the county party’s African American Caucus, told The Charlotte Observer after Drayton’s resignation party leadership, including Kromer, failed to heed warnings about lackluster grassroots organizing in communities with large numbers of Black voters.
The caucus later released a statement calling on Kromer to resign. County Commissioner Arthur Griffin also sent an email to Kromer in the wake of Drayton’s resignation calling for him to leave his post, WFAE reported.
Kromer previously pushed back on those claims and calls for resignation, saying the party is focused on advancing new strategies for organizing and outreach and made investments in the African American community during the 2024 election cycle.
“Anybody is welcome to run against me for whatever they like,” he told the Observer previously.
Kromer did not immediately respond to an Observer question about his future plans with the party in the wake of Harris’s announcement.
‘We need to crack the code’
In his announcement, Harris, who previously represented parts of southern Mecklenburg, touted himself as a strong fundraiser “who understands the dynamics of this state” and “is committed to building back our brand in the low turnout sections of Meck.”
“My experience in the legislature, running a statewide campaign, and winning competitive legislative races gives me the relationships and leadership we need to move forward,” he wrote to supporters.
Harris told the Observer running as a statewide candidate allowed him to see what strategies are working, or not working, for other county parties, lessons he would put to use as a party chair.
His announcement said the county party “ignored our base in favor of flashy races that already have support.” He told the Observer the party needs to pay more attention to districts that get overlooked for more competitive districts that draw resources, such as Rep. Tricia Cotham’s state House seat in southeast Mecklenburg.
“We’re blinded by the shiny object, and the shiny object is the competitive races,” he said. “... I don’t think it’s the duty of the county party to necessarily focus on those high-profile races, because those have the highest turnout.”
To improve turnout countywide, Harris said, the party needs “to empower our precinct chairs” and get more involved in communities well ahead of elections.
“Don’t show up a couple of weeks before the election knocking on doors,” he said. “Show up months before, years before the big elections, and just be part of the community.”
Harris said he’s spoken with some African American community leaders about post-2024 concerns and wants to “build trust back.”
“We’re a diverse party. Having a diverse party like that has a lot of different viewpoints, and real leadership is bringing those viewpoints together for a common goal,” he said.
Party members will elect a new chair in the spring.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 8:58 AM.
