And Just Like That, It’s Election Season Again
With local races across the Triangle, our midterm elections will shape housing and growth policy throughout the region
If it feels too early to be talking about elections, it’s not.
In fact, candidate filing has already closed for the 2026 midterm elections, which means the slate is now set for races that will shape housing, land use, and growth across the Triangle for years to come.
This year’s ballot includes races for U.S. Senate and U.S. House, North Carolina Senate and House, state judicial offices, County District Attorneys, County Boards of Commissioners, and County Boards of Education.
Plus, a newly structured election for Raleigh City Council!
For CITYBUILDER’s election coverage, we’ll focus on the Triangle, specifically local races in Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham, and Johnston Counties. These counties have the most impact on the region’s housing supply, infrastructure, and long-term growth.
Here’s who’s on the ballot.
Raleigh City Council: A New Election Structure
This year marks a major change for Raleigh’s municipal elections.
For the first time, Raleigh will hold non-partisan primaries, followed by a general election. This also marks the transition to four-year terms for the Raleigh City Council, which means it’s the last time that every member of the council will be elected all at once.
That’s two big changes for Raleigh voters to pay attention to in a busy midterm election cycle. Here’s a summary of the changes (details on the City of Raleigh webpage):
Four-Year Staggered Terms
Council members and the Mayor will serve four-year terms.
Approximately half of the members will run every two years.
Transition Plan:
In 2026, half the Council will run for two-year terms expiring in 2028.
The other half will run for four-year terms expiring in 2030.
Non-Partisan Primary Election Format
March Primary: All candidates in a given district will be on the ballot, and the top two vote-getting candidates will advance to the November ballot.
November Election: The top two candidates from the primary will be voted upon.
In case you missed it, these changes are a result of the Council’s decision to implement the Recommendations of the Study Group Examining Raleigh City Council Terms, Compensation, and Voter Engagement that was commissioned in 2020. The study group, chaired by Eric Braun (from RaleighForward), detailed key reforms that would improve the effectiveness of governance on long term decisions, and increase voter turnout and engagement.
As the committee noted in 2021, these changes matter beyond the city limits.
Raleigh’s zoning, housing, and transportation decisions ripple across the entire region, and this election will shape the city’s direction well into the next decade; likely even longer, as those elected will be voting on Raleigh’s Next Comprehensive Plan.
Raleigh City Council races this year include:
CITY OF RALEIGH MAYOR
Two Candidates for one seat:
Janet Cowell
Ashleigh Heath Armstrong
Since there are only two candidates, this race will not be on the primary ballot.
This seat will be elected for a four-year term.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE
Six candidates for two seats:
Cameron Zamot
Ms. Stormie Denise Forte
Sana Siddiqui
Clark Rinehart
James G. Bledsoe
Joshua Bradley
The highest vote-getter in November will serve a four-year term, while the second-highest vote-getter will serve a two-year term. This primary will be especially important, as it will narrow the field to four candidates for the general election.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT A
Two candidates for one seat:
Whitney Hill
Mitchell Silver
Since there are only two candidates, this race will not be on the primary ballot.
This seat will be elected for a four-year term.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT B
One candidate for one seat:
Megan Patton
Since there is only one candidate, this race will not be on the primary ballot.
This seat will be elected for a four-year term.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT C
Four candidates for one seat:
Corey Branch
Diana Angie Powell
Jared S. Ollison
Tolulope O. Omokaiye
This race will be on the primary ballot, and will narrow the field to two candidates for the general election.
This seat will be elected for a two-year term.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT D
Two candidates for one seat:
Jane Harrison
Jevon Smith-Cook
Since there are only two candidates, this race will not be on the primary ballot.
This seat will be elected for a two-year term.
CITY OF RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT E
Two candidates for one seat:
Christina Jones
Marc Scruggs
Since there are only two candidates, this race will not be on the primary ballot.
This seat will be elected for a two-year term.
CITYBUILDER will be covering these races closely and sending Raleigh-specific housing-focused questionnaires to all of the candidates.
If you’d like to geek-out on reading the Raleigh ordinance that describes the four-year terms and transition, here it is! If you’d like to read up on how the non-partisan primary system works, you can do so here.
County Commission Races Across the Triangle
While city councils might be more prominent, county governments also play a key role in housing outcomes. They are often the entities best positioned to plan at the regional scale, and in our area, many county governments directly build housing and provide services for people experiencing homelessness. County commissions shape where and how growth happens by coordinating long-range land use planning, urban growth boundaries, and policies that either encourage compact development or allow sprawl to spread outwards unchecked. They oversee major infrastructure investments in water, sewer, stormwater, and schools. County governments usually oversee infrastructure systems that must be planned years in advance and align across multiple municipalities.
When counties fail to coordinate these investments, growth becomes more expensive, more car-dependent, and more environmentally damaging. When they get it right, counties can support housing production in the right places, reducing infrastructure costs per household, and helping cities grow in a way that is fiscally and environmentally sustainable.
This year, the following county commission races (which are partisan) are on the ballot across the Triangle:
Wake County
All the attention here is on the At-Large race, with a crowded field and only Commissioner Safiyah Jackson facing a challenger in her district.
WAKE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AT-LARGE
Christine Kushner (DEM)
Gary Dale Hartong (REP)
Jonathan Lambert-Melton (DEM)
Kimberly McGhee (DEM)
Kyle Stogoski (REP)
Marguerite Creel (DEM)
Mona Singh (DEM)
Robert Mitchener, Jr (DEM)
Steve S. Rao (DEM)
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 01
Don Mial (DEM)
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 02
Safiyah Jackson (DEM)
John B. Adcock (REP)
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 03
Cheryl F. Stallings
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 07
Vickie Adamson
Orange County
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AT-LARGE
Adam Beeman (DEM)
Jeffrey Hoagland (REP)
Karen Stegman (DEM)
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 01
Jamezetta Bedford (DEM)
Maria T. Palmer (DEM)
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 02
Beth Bronson (DEM)
Earl McKee (DEM)
Louis D. Capitanio (REP)
Chatham County
CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 03
Kate O’Brien (DEM)
Michael R. (Mike) Roberson (DEM)
CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 04
John M. Crowell (REP)
Katie Kenlan (DEM)
CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 05
Franklin Gomez Flores (DEM)
Lynn Gaines (DEM)
Steve Ganley (REP)
Johnston County
JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 03
Adam Caldwell (REP)
Chad M. Stewart (REP)
Mike Rose (REP)
JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 05
Patrick Harris (REP)
JOHNSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 07
R.S. (Butch) Lawter, Jr. (REP)
Keith Branch (REP)
Durham County does not have county commission races on the ballot this year, only school board races. However, Durham County remains central to CITYBUILDER’s regional housing coverage. Just this month, we saw one recently unseated Durham City Councilor file for the local State Senate race.
All of these county candidates will also receive our housing questionnaires.
If there are other counties in NC you’d like us to put on our watch list, please reach out and let us know.
State and Federal Races
While CITYBUILDER’s primary focus is local housing policy, state and federal offices shape the guardrails around what cities and counties are allowed to do. However, state and federal races receive lots of coverage from our local media outlets and other organizations like Carolina Forward. There’s a good chance some of the state or federal candidates will dig deep into housing policy this cycle; if that happens, we’ll let you know!
For the 2026 primary and general election, you’ll have candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, NC Senate, NC House, and NC judicial races on your ballot too.
To view every candidate in every primary race across the state, you can check out this comprehensive list from the NC Board of Elections.
What Comes Next
There’s lots to do before the primary election begins. Early voting runs from February 12-28th and Primary Election Day is March 3.
Over the coming weeks, CITYBUILDER will be sending housing-focused questionnaires to candidates in key local races across the Triangle and sharing their responses with you, our members. These questionnaires are designed to get beyond slogans, and assess how candidates understand the region’s housing challenges and their role in addressing them. We’ll be asking about:
Whether candidates acknowledge the scale and causes of the housing shortage.
Their willingness to support building more housing to meet current and future needs.
Leadership on zoning and process reforms that remove barriers to housing production.
How they think about housing across the full spectrum, from single-family homes to missing middle housing to apartments.
As responses come in, we’ll report them clearly and consistently so readers can see where candidates stand on the housing policies that matter most to our region’s future.
Members can help shape the questions we ask by sending us a note. Readers who want to follow along can subscribe for updates as responses come in. And if you want to support our work more deeply, become a CITYBUILDER paid member and help make this reporting possible.
Subscribe. Become a member. Stay tuned. Housing decisions are on the ballot this year, whether candidates talk about it or not.