Who’ll replace Tariq Bokhari on Charlotte City Council? Potential candidates in District 6
If you’re a south Charlotte Republican looking to get into politics, now’s your chance.
City Council member Tariq Bokhari plans to leave local office for a position in the Trump administration. The four-term Republican councilman, whose District 6 includes much of south Charlotte, confirmed Tuesday he plans to step down to become deputy administrator for the Federal Transit Administration.
Under state law, Charlotte’s heavily Democratic City Council is now tasked with appointing a Republican who lives in the district to finish out his term. Past resignations have sparked more than 100 applications to fill the vacant seats.
Whoever fills the seat isn’t guaranteed to do so for long, with every seat on the council up for election in November. Past councils also have preferred appointees not interested in running for a full term.
Republicans and Democrats are both likely to make strong plays for the seat — hotly contested in recent years. One name mentioned frequently since Bokhari’s news became public: his wife and former state House candidate Krista Bokhari.
She’s expressed interest in the seat.
Will Krista Bokhari be appointed to Charlotte City Council?
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Krista Bokhari confirmed her interest in filling her husband’s City Council seat to WBT News, host Brett Jensen reported.
She made her first official foray into politics in 2024 when she ran as a Republican in south Charlotte’s House District 104 against Democratic incumbent Rep. Brandon Lofton. The Democrat won that race by a margin of 55.9% to 44.1%. But conservative political blog Longleaf Politics noted Krista Bokhari outperformed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump by 9%, among the “top overperforming candidates” in North Carolina in 2024.
Krista Bokhari holds a degree in marketing from Radford University and, in addition to other volunteer roles in the community, has helped with constituent services in her husband’s City Council office throughout his tenure, she said in her Observer candidate survey.
She wrote at the time crime was the biggest issue facing her district, saying improving education “is a root cause solution.”
City Council member Ed Driggs, the only other Republican on the council, told The Charlotte Observer Wednesday he was “aware” of Krista Bokhari’s interest in her husband’s seat.
“I think that’s a very interesting possibility. I don’t know in detail what her plans are, but it doesn’t surprise me that she’s been mentioned as a candidate,” he said.
Not all are necessarily on-board. Council member Malcolm Graham told Observer news partner WSOC-TV Wednesday he prefers not to appoint family members of a departing representative. But the council did exactly that in 2010 when it picked the son of outgoing Council member Susan Burgess, Jason Burgess, to fill her seat when she stepped down due to a medical issue.
Which Republicans will run for Tariq Bokhari’s seat?
One question for Krista Bokhari or other applicants: will they run for the seat in the 2025 election? When filling other vacancies, past councils preferred candidates not seeking a full, two-year term.
Krista Bokhari told WBT she’s “not making a decision to run one way or another at this time,” instead focusing “entirely on the appointment and continuing to work with the neighborhood leaders for the rest of this term.”
Longtime Republican strategist Larry Shaheen told the Observer there’s “interest” in Krista Bokhari among the local GOP but that it’s her decision whether to pursue the seat in the short or long term.
The news of Tariq Bokhari’s departure is “fresh” enough it’s still unclear who else could run, Shaheen said. A District 6 resident, Shaheen noted he’s already gotten calls about a potential campaign but has no plans to pursue public office.
But he predicted a crowded field in the September primary. Key issues would likely be “standard conservative messaging,” he said, including taxes and government accountability.
In the general election, Shaheen said key issues would include growth in the SouthPark and Myers Park neighborhoods, public safety and Charlotte’s transportation plan.
A strong candidate, Shaheen said, will have name recognition, a good relationship with local Republicans and strong fundraising acumen. Tariq Bokhari raised more than $230,000 during his last campaign, Shaheen noted. The real estate industry was a key supporter, he added.
“It would not surprise me to see the real estate developers coordinate around a candidate that they would like to support,” Shaheen said.
A woman could also have an advantage in the district, Shaheen said.
“I think a woman is probably going to be our best bet, but it needs to be a female who’s had experience running before, someone who can raise money and someone who can get out into the community and work and garner the trust and support on a bipartisan basis of that district,” he said.
Veteran Democratic strategist Dan McCorkle, whose worked on campaigns against Tariq Bokhari, pointed to two other Republicans as potential candidates: former District 6 representative Kenny Smith, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2017, and Eric Laster, who Tariq Bokhari defeated in a heated primary in 2017.
What about Democrats?
McCorkle said Democrats may also see a crowded primary field. The district is predominantly white and has a sizable portion of unaffiliated voters, McCorkle noted, making it winnable for either party.
“It’s one of the few competitive places left,” he said.
Democrat Stephanie Hand lost to Tariq Bokhari by less than 500 votes in 2022 and 2023. But she may be hesitant to run for a third time in the same district, McCorkle predicted.
“You don’t want to run three times for the same thing and not be successful,” he said.
McCorkle suggested the Democrats who lost the 2022 primary to Hand could be potential candidates in 2025. That slate of candidates included Rob Hillman and Nancy Wiggins
“I’m just sure that there’s been a lot of people considering it in the last 24 hours,” McCorkle said Wednesday.
Whether Mayor Vi Lyles runs for reelection could also affect Democrats’ pool of candidates, McCorkle said, because other City Council seats could open up if current representatives run to succeed her. And well-known Democrats would face a decision about whether to run at large or in a district.
Whoever gets the Democratic nomination will need to raise substantial money for a district race and find a way to localize the impacts of the Trump administration on Charlotte to succeed, McCorkle predicted.
“Both sides are gonna have to spend money and run excellent campaigns to win,” he said.
Reporter Nora O’Neill contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 6:21 PM.
