After rolling out its selections over the last few weeks, all of the N.C. Sierra Club endorsements in the Orange County and Chatham County municipal elections are now released.
The club, whose statewide political arm handles endorsements, issued support for 13 candidates across the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Pittsboro races on the ballot this fall. Candidates in each of the races were sent questionnaires by their local chapters, who also coordinate interviews with candidates before voting on recommendations by email to form their recommendations to the state club.
In the Chapel Hill municipal races, the N.C. Sierra Club endorsed Jess Anderson in the mayoral election and three town council candidates: Melissa McCullough, Theodore Nollert and Amy Ryan.
For the Carrboro election cycle, the statewide chapter endorsed the trio of town council members running together — Catherine Fray, Jason Merrill and Eliazar Posada — while also endorsing Barbara Foushee in her unopposed run for mayor.
The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners election saw two of its four candidates pick up endorsements from the Sierra Club: Meaghun Darab and Matt Hughes. Mark Bell, who is running unopposed for mayor, also earned the club’s support.
Finally, in Pittsboro, the North Carolina chapter issued endorsements for three of the six Board of Commissioners candidates. John Bonitz, John Foley and Allen Wilson all earned its stamp of approval, while unopposed mayoral candidate Kyle Shipp also received an endorsement.
The endorsements in the Chapel Hill races came after two candidates issued a statement calling the club’s decision into question before the endorsements were approved by the state-level political committee, let alone publicly released by the statewide chapter. Chapel Hill mayoral candidate Adam Searing and Chapel Hill Town Council candidate Renuka Soll shared a newsletter message to supporters on October 13 calling the Chapel Hill suggesting that because the Orange-Chatham Group of the Sierra Club is chaired by McCullough — and because neither Searing or Soll were endorsed — the group’s selection process was “suspect.”
According to both McCullough and Margaret Lillard, who is the communications manager for the N.C. Sierra Club, McCullough recused herself from the endorsement process in Chapel Hill’s races. In a statement to Chapelboro, Lillard said endorsements by the statewide committee are made with the belief that those candidates will promote environmental, climate, clean energy, justice, racial equity, and democracy policies that align with the club’s goals.
“Endorsements are made at the Chapter level by a statewide group of volunteer leaders,” she said of the process, “who receive local group recommendations but are not bound by them. No endorsement is final without the approval of two-thirds of the voting members of two Sierra Club entities, such as a local Group’s political committee and the Chapter’s political committee. Once the candidate is informed of the endorsement, we announce it publicly.“People who serve as Sierra Club leaders are typically deeply involved in their communities,” Lillard continued, “so it’s not unusual for volunteer leaders to run for office. The national Sierra Club recognizes this, and requires that any volunteer leader who runs for office must recuse themselves from participating in the endorsement process for candidates on their ballot.”
McCullough also shared a statement on her campaign’s social media platforms the day after Searing and Soll’s message saying recused herself. In a statement made to Chapelboro, the town council candidate added that she hopes her professional history of working with the Environmental Protection Agency stands for itself as to why the Sierra Club endorsed in the Chapel Hill election.
See below my response to a fellow candidate's statement on my role in the Sierra Club's endorsement process. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/Oxf2ByK316
— Melissa for Chapel Hill (@MelissaForCH) October 14, 2023
The full list of endorsements the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club has announced for the 2023 local election cycle can be found here.
Early voting began this week for all of Orange County’s 2023 municipal elections, as the county’s first of five early voting sites opened on Thursday, October 19. The early voting period will run through November 4, and residents will then have Election Day on Tuesday, November 7 as their final opportunity to cast their votes.
For a full list of races Chapelboro is covering this 2023 local election cycle, click here. Additional coverage throughout election season, including on other groups’ endorsements, can be found on the Chapelboro Local Elections page.
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