Mecklenburg municipal elections: Christy Clark wins Huntersville mayoral race

Huntersville voters on Tuesday elected a new mayor and six new faces to its board of commissioners.

With all precincts reported, Christy Clark won 48% of the vote, defeating challengers Dan Boone and Derek Partee. Current Mayor Melinda Bales, who is seeking northern Mecklenburg County’s seat in the N.C. House, did not run for reelection.

Clark is a former state legislator who represented House District 98, which includes Cornelius, Davidson and western Huntersville, from 2019-2020. She lost a bid last year to regain the seat against Republican Rep. John Bradford.

Boone retired in 2002 after more than 30 years with Kraft Foods and was first elected to serve on the Huntersville Board of Commissioners in 2015.

Partee, a retired homicide detective and private investigator, began his first term on the board of commissioners in 2021.

After an election featuring a crowded field of 17 candidates, all six seats on Huntersville’s Board of Commissioners will change hands. Jennifer Hunt, Nick Walsh, Edwin Quarles, Alisia Bergsman, Amanda Dumas and LaToya Rivers were first through sixth, respectively, and won seats on the board.

Early Wednesday morning, Clark thanked Huntersville voters for electing her and congratulated fellow Democratic candidates on their wins in a Facebook post.

“We are beyond grateful for the outpouring of support that led to our wins tonight,” Clark said. “We are committed to hearing every voice, to representing every member of our community, and to bringing our community together. No matter who you are, where you live or what issue motivates you, today you have a voice at the table. Thank you, Huntersville!”

Current board members Lance Munger and Stacy Phillips did not seek reelection. Boone and Partee gave up their shot at reelection to commissioners seats to run for mayor.

Incumbents Rob Kidwell and Amber Kovacs finished ninth and 13th in their reelection bids. They got 5.71% and 4.5% of the vote, respectively.

The race was officially nonpartisan, but in early October, the Citizens for North Carolina PAC, a Republican political group, sent out a flyer in an attempt to warn Huntersville voters before the election about “dangerous Democrat activists” trying to “take over town hall.” The flyer, which targeted Clark and commissioner candidates Bergsman, Hunt and Dumas, made claims about their stances on abortion, diversity and inclusion, and gender-affirming care for minors.

Mecklenburg County Democratic Party Chair Drew Kromer praised the party’s effort to campaign in Huntersville after all seven of the candidates it endorsed won their elections.

“It goes to show that when you have a strong party and run strong candidates, we can win some races,” he said. “We just needed to give the Democrats in town something they could vote for.”

Cornelius

In the race for mayor of Cornelius, incumbent Woody Washam was leading challenger Denis Bilodeau, a former member of the town board, by 13 votes out of more than 5,500 cast with all precincts reporting.

On the Cornelius Board of Commissioners, Scott Higgins, Susan Johnson, Michael Osborne, Todd Sansbury and Robert Carney won seats. Colin Furcht and Thurman Ross were just short of securing a seat, with 9.63% and 8.68% of the vote, respectively.

Davidson

Davidson incumbent Mayor Rusty Knox, who ran unopposed, won 96% of the vote with all precincts reported.

Incumbents Matthew Dellinger, Ryan Fay, Tracy Mattison Brandon and Autumn Rierson Michael, along with newcomer Steve Justus, won the five available seats on Davidson’s board of commissioners.

Mayor Pro Tem Jane Campbell did not seek reelection.

Matthews

Matthews incumbent Mayor John Higdon, who ran unopposed, won 91% of the vote with all precincts reporting.

With 12 candidates running, the following won seats on the Matthews board: Gina Hoover, with 10.39% of the vote; Mark Tofano, with 10.24%; Renee Garner, with 9.97%; Ken McCool, with 9.59%; Leon Threatt, with 9.05%; and John Urban, with 8.77%.

Commissioner Larry Whitley did not seek reelection.

Mint Hill

Mint Hill’s only candidate for mayor, incumbent Brad Simmons, won 94% of the vote with all precincts reported.

Of the five candidates who ran for four seats on the Mint Hill Board of Commissioners, incumbents Twanna Henderson, Dale Dalton, Tony Long and Patrick Holton won seats, beating challenger Matthew Schwoebel.

Pineville

With all precincts reported, David Phillips defeated Ed Samaha by 28 votes in Pineville’s mayoral race.

Current Mayor Jack Edwards declined to seek reelection, the Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly reported.

In the race for town council, Amelia Stinson-Wesley won 27.51% of the vote, securing a seat. Eric Fransen and Danielle Moore tied with 624 votes each and will await counts of any provisional or yet-to-be-approved mail-in ballots for the final seat.

Incumbent Les Gladden came in fourth, with 21.37% of the vote.

In Iredell County: Mooresville results

With all precincts reporting, Chris Carney defeated Bobby Compton by more than 2,000 votes in the race for mayor of Mooresville.

Current Mayor Miles Atkins didn’t seek reelection.

In the race for at-large commissioner, Eddie Karriker won by 1,317 votes against challenger Frank Owens.

Will Aven edged out Thurman Houston by 26 votes in the race for commissioner for Ward 2.

Incumbent Eddie Dingler ran unopposed to represent Ward 1 on the board.

To view the full local election results for each town, visit ncsbe.gov.

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