First-time candidate Meaghun Darab, as well as incumbents Matt Hughes and Evelyn Lloyd, was elected to the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners during Tuesday’s municipal election.
Darab earned the most votes from the town’s four precincts (1,240), marking 29.3 percent of the vote — with Hughes trailing by only 11 votes for 29.1 percent for second. Lloyd earned the final seat with 23.4 percent of the vote (996) and newcomer Victoria Masika following in fourth with 17.5 percent.
Darab will fill the seat left by Mark Bell, who decided to run for Hillsborough mayor instead of seeking another term on the town board. The PORCH board member ran a campaign built on continuing the town’s approach to preparing for more growth and expanding its inclusive values.
“I’ve always been helping other candidates,” she said in an interview with Chapelboro, “but being on the other side is a whole new experience and I loved it.”
As a newcomer to elected office, Darab says she’s been working to familiarize herself with the town board and its procedures during her campaign. But her most eye-opening learning experience, she said, was connecting with community members in neighborhoods and areas in Hillsborough she didn’t previously interact with much.
“I think that was probably the biggest thing,” says Darab, “just getting in touch with other community members that I might not have and not knowing about [their feedback like], ‘Well, we always have this concern in our area.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m sorry I did not know that – but I’m glad I do now.’”
Lloyd is the other end of the spectrum from the first-time commissioner Darab. The longtime resident and owner of Lloyd’s Pharmacy, Tuesday’s election will lead to her ninth term on the Board of Commissioners and begin her 33 year of service with the town.
Matt Hughes is the winning candidate who splits the difference between the other two in experience. Having first been elected to the board on a partial term in 2018, he said he thinks he’s grown as a public official in how he prioritizes town issues and cooperates with his peers.
“I think I definitely have learned how to be more patient,” Hughes told Chapelboro, “how to be more consistent in how I approach issues or how I approach ideas with my fellow board members and with our staff.”
Hughes pointed to several long-term projects Hillsborough is embarking on that will outlast his upcoming term – like the implementation of the town’s new comprehensive sustainability plan and constructing a new train station – as examples of keeping an eye on the big picture. Energized by this year’s high turnout for Hillsborough’s municipal races, he said he plans to use his status on the board to help engage residents on such projects.
“It’s really just having the perspective that in a town that’s been around since the 1750s,” Hughes said, “things just move a different way. But we definitely punch above our weight in terms of what Hillsborough is able to accomplish.”
Darab, Hughes and Lloyd will be sworn in for their terms during the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, December 11. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex building.
Local election results from races in Orange and Chatham County can be found here.
Editor’s Note: This article was initially published on November 7, and updated on November 8 with quotes from interviews.
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