See who’s running for office in Mecklenburg County in 2022

Filing for the May 2022 primary in North Carolina closed on Friday, solidifying the long list of candidates who are running for everything from City Council to the U.S. Senate.

For Mecklenburg County voters, that means a lot names and a lot of races.

In total, there will be 61 seats up for election in Mecklenburg County during the May primary. That doesn’t include non-partisan races like the school board, for which filing won’t open until summer.

It’s a lot to take in, so we’ve compiled a list of everybody who has filed to run in Mecklenburg County.

Before we get to the list, here are some highlights:

▪ Twenty-six North Carolinians filed to run for U.S. Senate.

On the Democratic side, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is the frontrunner. She’s the lead fundraiser in the race for both parties, and has the support of many in the national Democratic establishment. The frontrunners in the Republican primary include former Gov. Pat McCrory, Rep. Ted Budd (who has Trump’s endorsement), former Rep. Mark Walker and U.S. Army Reserve veteran Marjorie K. Eastman.

▪ Mecklenburg County is now home to two Congressional districts, 12 and 14, and both are likely to go to Democrats based on past election results.

Democrat Alma Adams in the incumbent in District 12. In District 14, state Sen. Jeff Jackson will head into the primary will the majority of the money he raised while running for U.S. Senate. He dropped out of the senate race late last year.

▪ The Democratic primary for at-large seats for the Charlotte City Council should be competitive.

Two at-large incumbents plus one current district representative — Dimple Ajmera, Braxton Winston and Larken Egleston — are running, as is former mayor Patrick Cannon and former councilman James Mitchell. Several Republican candidates are also in the race, hoping to put up a fight in the general election.

▪ Every county commissioner besides at-large representative Ella Scarborough is running for reelection. Jennifer De La Jara, an at-large member of the school board, is running at-large for the Board of County Commissioners, along with three other non-incumbent Democrats. Just one district representative, Vilma Leake, will face a primary competitor.

▪ There are two open City Council seats, each with several Democratic candidates. District Attorney Spencer Merriweather and Sheriff Garry McFadden both face primary competitors.

Charlotte and Mecklenburg elections — who’s running:

▪ U.S. Senate: Cheri Beasley (D), Constance (Lov) Johnson (D), Rett Newton (D), Chrelle Booker (D), Greg Antoine (D), Alyssia Rose-Katherine Hammond (D), Tobias LaGrone (D), Marcus W. Williams (D), James L. Carr, Jr. (D), B. K. Maginnis (D), Robert Colon (D), Shannon W. Bray (LIB), Pat McCrory (R), Mark Walker (R), Ted Budd (R), Marjorie K. Eastman (R), Jen Banwart (R), Lee A. Brian (R), Benjamin E. Griffiths (R), Charles Kenneth Moss (R), Lichia Sibhatu (R), Drew Bulecza (R), Leonard L. Bryant (R), Kenneth Harper, Jr. (R), David Flaherty (R), Debora Tshiovo (R)

▪ U.S. House District 12: Alma S. Adams (D), John Sharkey (D), Nalini Joseph (R), Andrew Huffman (R), Tyler Lee (R)

▪ U.S. House District 14: Jeff Jackson (D), Ram Mammadov (D), Jonathan Simpson (R), Pat Harrigan (R)

▪ City of Charlotte Mayor: Lucille Puckett (D), Tigress Sydney Acute McDaneil (D), Vi Alexander Lyles (D), Tae McKenzie (D), Stephanie de Sarachaga-Bilbao (R), Mohamed Moustafa (R)

▪ Charlotte City Council At-Large, vote for four: LaWana Slack-Mayfield (D), Dimple Ajmera (D), Larken Egleston (D), Patrick Cannon (D), Braxton Winston (D), James (Smuggie) Mitchell (D), David Merrill (R), Kyle J. Luebke (R), Carrie Olinski (R), Charlie Mulligan (R), David Michael Rice (R)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 01: Billy Madalon (D), Dante Anderson (D), Charlene Henderson El (D)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 02: Kendrick Cunningham (D), Malcolm Graham (D), Amar Johnson (D), Mary Lineberger Barnett (R)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 03: Victoria Watlington (D), Tiawana Deling Brown (D), James H. Bowers (R)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 04: Renee Perkins Johnson (D), Darlene Heater (D), Cedric Dean (D)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 05: Vinroy Reid (D), Mark Vincent (D), Liz Millsaps Haigler (D), Curtis Marvin Hayes Jr. (D), Marjorie Molina (D)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 06: Nancy Wiggins (D), Stephanie Hand (D), Rob Hillman (D), Tariq Scott Bokhari (R)

▪ Charlotte City Council District 07: Ed Driggs (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners At-Large, vote for 3: Jennifer De La Jara (D), Leigh Altman (D), Arthur Griffin, Jr. (D), Patricia (Pat) Cotham (D), Yvette Townsend-Ingram (D), Trina V. Boyd (D), Tatyana Thulien (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 01: Elaine Powell (D), Gary Leone (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 02: Vilma D. Leake (D), Angela White Edwards (D)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 03: George Dunlap (D), Dianna Benson (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 04: Mark Jerrell (D), Ray Fuentes (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 05: Laura Meier (D), Matthew Ridenhour (R)

▪ Board of County Commissioners District 06: Susan Rodriguez-McDowell (D), Desiree Zapata Miller (R), Jeremy Brasch (R)

▪ Mecklenburg County Sheriff: Aujiena (Gina) Hicks (D), Marquis D. Robinson (D), Garry L. McFadden (D)

▪ District Attorney: Spencer Merriweather (D), Timothy (Tim) Emry (D)

▪ NC Senate District 37: Vickie Sawyer (R), Tom Fyler (R)

▪ NC Senate District 38: Mujtaba A. Mohammed (D)

▪ NC Senate District 39: DeAndrea Salvador (D), Mark Robeson (R)

▪ NC Senate District 40: Bobbie Shields (R), Joyce Waddell (D)

▪ NC Senate District 41: Natasha Marcus (D), Bonni Leone (R)

▪ NC Senate District 42: Rachel Hunt (D), Scott Stone (R), Cheryl Russo (R)

▪ NC House District 88: Anne Marie Peacock (R), Mary Belk (D)

▪ NC House District 92: Terry Brown (D), Mario J. Robinson, Sr. (R)

▪ NC House District 98: John R. Bradford III (R), Christy Clark (D)

▪ NC House District 99: Nasif Majeed (D), Elsa Karman (R)

▪ NC House District 100: John Autry (D)

▪ NC House District 101: Carolyn G. Logan (D), Steve Mauney (R)

▪ NC House District 102: Becky Carney (D), Cynthia Eleanor Clementi (R)

▪ NC House District 103: Bill Brawley (R), Laura Budd (D), Ann Harlan (D)

▪ NC House District 104: Brandon Lofton (D), Don Pomeroy (R)

▪ NC House District 105: Wesley Harris (D), Joshua Niday (R)

▪ NC House District 106: Carla Cunningham (D), Karen Henning (R)

▪ NC House District 107: Kelly Alexander (D), Vermanno Bowman (D), Mark Alan Cook (R)

▪ NC House District 112: Jay Holman (D), Rodney W. Moore (D), Yolanda Holmes (D), Tricia Cotham (D), Tony Long (R)

▪ NC Superior Court Judge 26B: Kimberly Best (D), Matt Osman (R)

▪ NC Superior Court Judge 26D: Roy H. Wiggins (D), David H. Strickland (D)

▪ NC Superior Court Judge 26E: Reggie E. McKnight (D)

▪ NC Superior Court Judge 26G: Carla N. Archie (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 13: Roderick G. Davis (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 14: Alyssa M. Levine (D), Paulina Havelka (R)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 15: Jennifer Fleet (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 16: Matt Newton (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 17: Paige McThenia (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 18: Keith S. Smith (D), Cecilla Oseguera (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 19: Belal Elrahal (D), Samantha C. Mobley (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 20: Karen D. McCallum (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 21: Rhonda L. Patterson (D)

▪ NC District Court Judge District 26 Seat 01: Christopher Bazzle (D), Shante’ Burke-Hayer (D)

▪ NC Supreme Court Seat 03: Lucy Inman (D), Richard Dietz (R)

▪ NC Supreme Court Seat 05: Samuel Ervin IV (D), April C. Wood (R), Trey Allen (R), Victoria E. Prince (R)

▪ NC Court of Appeals District 08: Julee Tate Flood (R), Carolyn Jennings Thompson (D)

▪ NC Court of Appeals District 09: Beth Freshwater Smith (R), Donna Stroud (R), Brad A. Salmon (D)

▪ NC Court of Appeals District 10: Gale Murray Adams (D), John M. Tyson (R)

▪ NC Court of Appeals District 11: Darren Jackson (D), Michael J. Stading (R), Charlton L. Allen (R)

▪ Mecklenburg County Clerk of the Superior Court: Elisa Chinn Gary (D)

This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 1:06 PM.

Will Wright

The Charlotte Observer

Will Wright covers politics in Charlotte and North Carolina. He previously covered eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked as a reporting fellow at The New York Times.