Fayetteville election results: Mitch Colvin re-elected mayor in landslide victory
Incumbent Mitch Colvin has been elected in a landslide to a third term as mayor of Fayetteville, according to the unofficial election results Tuesday night.
With all precincts reporting, Colvin netted 62.74% of the votes with 9,253 ballots, while De la Cruz earned 36.97% of the votes with 5,452 ballots, according to the State Board of Elections website.
Colvin was first elected in November 2017 and won a second term in November 2019. He had previously served as mayor pro tem from 2015 to 2017 and as a city council member for District 3 from 2013 to 2015.
"I think we made a great case that we have the experience to carry our vision forward," Colvin said Tuesday night after the results were in.
He cited public safety, public infrastructure and housing as three of the issues he is eager to tackle in his next term.
"We've got a lot at stake," he said. "We're looking forward to that and continuing to build and train our workforce."
Freddie de la Cruz, Colvin's challenger, is a veteran who retired from the Army in December 2018. He based his platform on public safety, proposing the appointment of a police chief "who will allow police officers to enforce the laws within their jurisdiction," according to his campaign website.
"I did my best to try to give the citizens of Fayetteville an opportunity to make a change," de la Cruz said. "People decided to keep the direction the city is going in."
He was disappointed with the voter turnout.
"The sad part is, we've got 120,000 people who could vote. Only 14,000 showed up," he said. "The people are happy with what they got. They stayed home. They're going to get what they got."
De la Cruz said he plans to run again for mayor in the future, but for now, he'll be taking a vacation with his wife.
"I'm trying to call Mitch to congratulate him," he said. "I have no hard feelings."
The election was initially slated to take place in November 2021 but was moved after delayed census data resulted in council redistricting.
Public safety reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Mitch Colvin elected to third term as Fayetteville mayor
