From a crowded field of candidates, one incumbent and three new challengers won the four open Chapel Hill Town Council seats on Tuesday.
Paris Miller-Foushee, Karen Stegman, Camille Berry and Adam Searing claimed their spots on the town council, beating out four other candidates.
With all 16 precincts reporting Tuesday night, the lone incumbent Stegman led the pack with 20.14 percent of votes. The Chapel Hill native has served on the town council since 2017 and said she is excited to continue serving the community.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to work,” said Stegman, “and working with my colleagues on our priorities that we have identified so clearly — around affordable housing and climate change and equity. We have momentum and we just have to keep at it. Change doesn’t happen over night.”
Close behind Stegman, Berry and Miller-Foushee claimed the second and third seats, ending the night with 20.04 and 19.92 percent of votes respectively. All three leading candidates were endorsed by NEXT Chapel-Hill Carrboro. Berry said winning alongside Stegman and Miller-Foushee was especially rewarding.
“To finish in second was incredible,” Berry said, “but to finish in the company of the women that I was really proud to say I sport, was awesome for me.”
Miller-Foushee echoed Berry’s sentiments.
“I’m really excited about the candidates that have been chosen to serve,” she said. “The message that was sent was, ‘We are part of a region that is growing and we want to grow – we have to grow.’ But we want to grow in a way that is going to be inclusive, that advances racial equity and really puts a future for our town in the reach of everybody and not just a few.”
Adam Searing, who was endorsed by CHALT, the Sierra Club and News & Observer, beat out candidate Vimala Rajendran, who trailed Searing by two percent. Claiming the fourth and final seat, he said he hopes for a more unified Chapel Hill.
“Our responsibility is to represent everyone and to enact the vision I think we all have for a better town,” Searing said. “We have a little bit different ways to get there, but if we try and work together a little more and compromise on each side, we can get to a place we all feel good about.”
As early results rolled in earlier in the night, Miller-Foushee garnered a strong lead with 20 percent of the early vote. Incumbent Stegman and Berry followed closely behind.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, who successfully secured a fourth term in office on Tuesday, said she is excited to see new faces on the council.
“I’ve got a new council group,” Hemminger said, “and new energy is always a good thing. First I’m going to let everyone take a break and rest a little bit, but then we’ll move forward.”
Other candidates who ran for a town council seat included Robert Beasley, Jeffrey Hoagland, and Andrew Creech, who pulled out of the race earlier on.
The three Chapel Hill Town Council members who will be replaced are Hongbin Gu, Allen Buansi and Rachel Schaevitz. Gu lost her bid for Chapel Hill mayor, while Buansi announced he would not run for re-election shortly before announcing a campaign for the North Carolina House in District 56. Schaevitz’s seat on town council has been vacant since February 2020, when she relinquished her council duties ahead of a move to New Zealand.
Results for all Orange County elections can be found here.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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