Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari will resign to take Trump administration job
Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari is leaving local government for a position in the Trump administration.
The four-term councilman will resign his seat to become deputy administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, he confirmed to The Charlotte Observer. WFAE first reported the move.
Bokhari told the Observer he’s “still finalizing” when he’ll leave office but expects to do so in the “next couple weeks.”
Known for his outspoken personality, he’s been a vocal advocate for more police funding and, at times, a critic of Charlotte’s approach to overhauling the region’s transportation system. He critiqued City Manager Marcus Jones’ handling of transit negotiations and was the lone vote on the City Council against a draft transit deal and purchasing railroad tracks for the Red Line train from uptown to the Lake Norman area.
His new position gives him influence over a key piece of the transit plan: federal funding. The FTA awards billions in transportation grants.
The departure will also set up a battle to succeed him in a council district that’s produced Charlotte’s closest contests in the past two elections. State law stipulates a Republican must fill his seat until the election.
Who is Tariq Bokhari?
Bokhari, first elected in 2017, is one of two Republicans on the City Council and represents District 6 in south Charlotte.
Bokhari’s professional background is in fintech, including founding the Carolina Fintech Hub. A graduate of Radford University in Virginia, his family moved to Charlotte in 2003. A father of three, he’s served on the boards of the Greater Enrichment Program, Charlotte Area Fund, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and Blumenthal Performing Arts.
He survived close reelection bids in 2022 and 2023 against a well-funded Democratic challenger, Stephanie Hand. Bokhari won by a margin of 50.66% to 49.30% in 2023.
His wife, Krista Bokhari, has also sought elected office. She lost a state House race in 2024 to incumbent Democrat Rep. Brandon Lofton, who represents state House District 104 in south Charlotte.
The Mecklenburg County Republican Party called Bokhari a “dedicated public servant and a relentless advocate for innovation, infrastructure and economic growth” in a statement on his move.
“His passion for public service and his business acumen make him an excellent choice for this role,” party chairman Kyle Kirby told the Observer. “We have no doubt he will serve with the same tenacity and commitment that have defined his tenure on the Charlotte City Council.”
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles took to social media to praise Bokhari for “dedicated service.”
“Your contributions have been invaluable. I wish you all the best as you join the Trump Administration,” she said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Your leadership will undoubtedly continue to make an impact.”
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis also congratulated Bokhari on X, calling him a “great pick.”
Who will fill Bokhari’s seat?
Bokhari’s move comes months before the full City Council goes up for election. Primary elections are scheduled for Sept. 9, and the general election will be Nov. 4.
The City Council will appoint someone to finish out his term, according to state law. The appointee must also be a Republican because the city’s elections are partisan, the statute says.
Both parties are likely to make strong runs at his seat in November in a district decided by fewer than 1,000 votes in each of the last elections.
What does position mean for Charlotte’s transportation plan?
It’s not the first time a local official left office for a federal transportation job. Then-Mayor Anthony Foxx resigned in 2013 to become secretary of transportation in the Obama administration.
Foxx told the Observer Tuesday he was “precluded from interfering in anything having to do with prior work beforehand for a full year” after taking on his federal position but was unsure if the Trump administration continues that policy.
“Longer term,” he added, Bokhari’s local ties could “potentially be really good for Charlotte.”
“It’s always great to have a familiar face in a role that is so material to the future of this region,” Foxx said.
Like many Republicans, Bokhari was an advocate for more roads funding as Charlotte developed its transit plan. He’s also pushed for exploring new technologies, such as self-driving cars.
Bokhari attributed his votes against the Red Line purchase and draft transit legislation in September to uncertainty over whether the General Assembly would sign off on the plan and frustration with Jones for negotiating the terms of a governance system for transit without more council input.
“We are setting ourselves up for failure by not being precise,” he said at the time.
A pair of bills currently in the state Senate mirror key points from the draft bill: putting a 1-cent sales tax increase on the ballot to pay for transportation, capping spending on rail projects at 40% of new revenue and establishing a new public transit authority.
But Charlotte’s plan also calls for $5.9 billion in “additional funding and revenue,” including federal grants and FTA funds. Charlotte Area Transit System spokesman Brett Baldeck previously told the Observer it’s “too early to tell what impacts, if any” the Trump administration will have on transportation funding.
Trump’s Department of Transportation has signaled different approaches to transit funding decisions than the Biden administration.
WFAE reported previously new Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy authored a memo saying the DOT will give preference when evaluating grants to communities with marriage and birth rates that exceed the national average. Mecklenburg County has an above average birth rate but “far lower” than average marriage rate, the NPR affiliate reported.
Duffy also issued an order threatening to take federal transportation funding away from local governments that don’t participate with federal immigration policies, The New York Times reported.
Federal government appointment
Former Rep. Jason Saine, a Republican from Lincolnton, and Bokhari were at dinner together Tuesday night as the news broke.
Saine said he promised his friend he wouldn’t pass the phone to him, but he would talk to the Observer about why he is the right man for the job.
“I’ve known Tariq for a better part of a decade, and he’s an innovator and forward thinker,” Saine said.
The two were introduced due to their mutual love for all things tech, both being “geeks” and their enjoyment of the video game Call of Duty.
“He was talking about the internet of things and how Charlotte would eventually be using 5G to help with traffic and how we could use technology to better direct traffic through cities — even platooning vehicles down highways and using the technology we have to make it easy for all of us,” Saine said.
He added that Bokhari is a problem solver and this appointment would be a positive for North Carolina and the country.
Saine said that Bokhari has a unique skill set by working in a large urban city in a rural state.
“I think he’ll have a real opportunity to influence how we look at transportation from trains to moving people quickly to utilizing technology to get us there,” Saine said.
In 2024, Veronica Maria Vanterpool served as deputy administrator for the FTA, the job Bokhari plans to resign for, and was a noncareer appointment. Vanterpool previously worked for the Delaware Transit Corporation.
Each agency can hire so many noncareer appointments, allowing individuals to skip competitive hiring processes and government agencies to bring in individuals with specific expertise or skill sets. It also can be used by presidential nominees while they wait for a Senate confirmation vote.
These types of appointments are approved and overseen by the Office of Personnel Management, and only 10% of government jobs can be noncareer appointments.
Reporter Danielle Battaglia contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 6:04 PM.
