Election Results: Two Incumbents Fall in Council Primaries

The results are in from Tuesday’s primaries, giving a clearer picture at what the next Charlotte City Council will look like when members are sworn in on Dec. 1.

While two of Tuesday’s winners will now officially join uncontested incumbents Malcolm Graham and Ed Driggs on the next council body, the rest will still need to prevail in the general election. 

This year’s primary elections saw nearly an 8% turnout with 42,442 votes, a notable increase from the previous Charlotte City Council primaries in 2023, which saw a turnout under 5% with 23,764 votes. 

The biggest news of the night involved a tight race in east Charlotte as Juan Diego “J.D.” Mazuera Arias appears to have eked out a win against incumbent Marjorie Molina by just 37 votes in the District 5 — though a recount is pending.

Molina wasn’t the only incumbent to lose her seat on Tuesday. Below, we’ve got the results and what they mean for the general election. 

Charlotte Mayor

Vi Lyles is one step closer to a fifth term after easily defeating her four Democratic challengers with more than 70% of the vote. 

Lyles will face Republican real estate professional Terrie Donovan and libertarian Rob Yates in the general election.   

Charlotte City Council At-Large

There were no big surprises in the at-large race, as all four incumbents will move forward to the general election, where they’ll compete over four seats with Republican candidates Misun Kim and Edward Peacock III, currently filling Tariq Bokhari’s seat in District 6. 

Dimple Ajmera was the top vote-getter on Tuesday, as she was in the last Democratic primary, followed by LaWana Slack-Mayfield, James “Smuggie” Mitchell and Victoria Watlington. 

City Council District 1

Incumbent Dante Anderson staved off challenger Charlene Henderson El with more than two-thirds of the vote in that race. With no Republican challengers in the district, Anderson will return for a third term. 

Anderson is the current mayor pro tem, though council will need to decide following the December swearing-in-ceremony whether to keep her in that role. 

City Council District 3

The District 3 race was a closely watched one following incumbent Tiawana Brown’s indictment on charges of COVID relief fraud in May. It would appear that the news did hurt Brown, as she fell to community organizer Joi Mayo, who won by more than 24 percentage points. 

Mayo will now face Republican James H. Bowers in the general election.  

City Council District 4

Renee Perkins Johnson won a repeat of her 2023 matchup with affordable housing developer Wil Russell, only this time more handily, with the incumbent taking nearly 68% of the vote and more than doubling Russell’s vote total.  

City Council District 5

In the tightest race of the night, challenger JD Mazuera Arias appears to have ousted incumbent Marjorie Molina by just 37 votes, though that unofficial margin does make the race subject to a recount. 

Whoever does win the race, which became one of the most contentious of the primary season over the last month, will take the District 5 seat in December, as there are no Republican challengers. 

City Council District 6

In the only Republican primary of the day, Krista Bokhari cruised to a victory over Sary Chakra with more than 76% of the vote. 

Bokhari came within one vote of replacing her husband Tariq Bokhari for the remainder of his term in District 6 in May and will now face local attorney and Democrat Kimberly Owens in the general election to fill it for a full term. 

The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4, with early in-person voting beginning on Thursday, Oct. 16.