Charlotte Observer endorsements: Our choices in Mecklenburg County Commission primaries

The transformation of the Mecklenburg Board of Commissioners has been remarkable. Once prone to public spats and embarrassing outbursts, the county commission is now a higher functioning, more professional body thanks to members who get to work and avoid drama.

Mecklenburg still faces significant issues, including crime and a persistent lack of affordable housing, but the board has more members with the vision and thoughtfulness to help address those enduring problems and others.

Our endorsements in contested primary races:

District 1

Voters in this north Mecklenburg district have three exceptional choices — Jessica Finkel, Morris “Mac” McAdoo and Adam Pasiak — in the race to replace current commissioner Elaine Powell, who chose not to run for reelection. Powell told the Observer she does not plan to make an endorsement in the race.

Finkel is a communications strategist and community organizer who has worked as an activist and organizer centered around justice, including serving as secretary of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP. Affordable housing would be among her focus areas on the commission, but she told the Editorial Board that her approach would be to address how several issues — including mental health, affordability and crime — are connected. “Nothing works in silos,” she said.

McAdoo is an attorney who has extensive community and civic involvement. He’s the founding Chair of the PSF Foundation, which supports young people in North Charlotte, and he has served as a board member of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association and the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee for the City of Charlotte.

He also has a focus on affordability, including helping first-time homebuyers and residents who want to remain in established communities. He told the Editorial Board that he also would be attentive to environmental justice as an equity issue, particularly with longtime District 1 residents who live near county-owned properties that have environmental safety concerns.

Pasiak is a manager at Honeywell who shares current district representative Powell’s passion for parks. He is a former member of the North Regional Advisory Council for Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, as well as the former co-chair of the Metropolitan Transit Commission’s Citizen Transit Advisory Group.

He told the Editorial Board that along with focusing as commissioner on affordability, he is attentive to issues surrounding green spaces and development. “Intelligent growth, not unsustainable growth,” he said.

There is no wrong choice for voters in this race. Each candidate has a broad and thoughtful understanding of the issues facing District 1 and Mecklenburg County. We give a slight nod to McAdoo for his legal advocacy experience surrounding equity and access to health and human service.

District 2

Vilma Leake is running for a 10th term in this west Charlotte district, and she faces perhaps her most formidable challenger in political strategist Monifa Drayton.

Leake has been less controversial than she once was on the commission, but she remains an active representative, driving regularly through her district to talk to residents about issues big and small. Her advocacy for seniors and her lived experience are valuable assets to the commission.

Drayton brings a breadth of knowledge about health care, including the intersection of mental health and crime. She would be a capable servant to constituents, and her strategic background and superior grasp of issues would align with a commission that increasingly sees itself as a leading, connective force for change.

“Change happens through strategy,” Drayton told the Editorial Board. “You have to look at the root cause of problems, and we have to look at the obstacles to solutions.”

We agree, and we believe District 2 would be served well by that approach. We endorse Drayton.

District 3

Longtime commissioner and former chair George Dunlap is serving his 17th year in this northeast Mecklenburg district. He faces Phil Carey, a longtime Mecklenburg resident and property management company owner. The winner will be unopposed in the general election.

Dunlap, who was commission chair for six terms, has ably served his district and the county. He’s been a part of commission efforts to attack affordable housing via strategic investments in development, and he played an integral role in the county’s micro-lending program to help small businesses. His focus now includes youth crime, and as incoming president of the National Association of Counties, he hopes to bring innovative approaches to the issue back to Mecklenburg.

Carey, who has served with the Mecklenburg Democratic Party and Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation, told the Editorial Board that he would bring a fresher, engaged perspective to the commission. “We have too many people who have been around too long in office,” he said.

District’s 3 incumbent, however, continues to be an engaged and productive commissioner. We recommend Dunlap for another term.

At-large

Ten Democrats, including three incumbents, are competing for three seats. The three primary winners will run unopposed in November.

Incumbents Leigh Altman and Arthur Griffin have played a meaningful part in the commission’s improvement, and they have a shared vision of the board’s unique position to become a more intentional leader in connecting people, education, jobs and other services. To achieve such ambitions, the commission needs thoughtful, pragmatic leaders like Altman and Griffin. Each deserves another term.

Yvette Townsend-Ingram has been a capable first-term commissioner who has shown the potential to grow into the role. We’re troubled, however, by recent reports of a 2025 arrest warrant from Gaston County that said Townsend-Ingram failed to complete a community service order that stemmed from the 2024 DWI charge. She previously had another arrest warrant in Gaston County after failing to appear in court for the pending DWI charge. (She said her lawyer was supposed to inform the court she was sick with COVID-19.)

Townsend-Ingram initially declined to answer questions on the latest warrant before issuing a statement Thursday saying she had completed community service but had difficulty reporting it. She also called the warrant a “politically motivated attack” despite her acknowledgement that she hadn’t reported her community service. That attempt at deflection signals a lack of accountability, and unanswered questions surrounding the community service and reporting of it give us pause for now.

Voters have a solid alternative in Nichel Dunlap-Thompson, a Charlotte native who has smart ideas on workforce support, mental health and transportation, where she would bring a fresh, unique perspective on the board as a former CATS operator.

This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM.