UNC graduate student Michael Beauregard, who announced his candidacy for the Chapel Hill Town Council in early June, has pulled out of the race. Beauregard did not file to run by last week’s deadline and then confirmed his decision in a post to his Substack page on Friday.

“If there are indeed only four spots on the council, a particular side of the pro-/anti-progress aisle taking on more than four candidates would be self-defeating,” Beauregard’s announcement read. “And of the candidates on our side of the aisle, we have reached that cap.”

Beauregard said he plans to issue refunds to all those who donated to his brief campaign. He also has endorsed four candidates for the four open seats on the council: Erik Valera, Theodore Nollert, Melissa McCullough and Jon Mitchell.

“Chapel Hill is at a nexus point in its history, and we must ensure that those who hold the reins in our Town Council are those that will see to it that Chapel Hill continues on the path of change,” he wrote.

Beauregard praised the passage of the town’s proposed Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO), calling it a “positive move, and an outstanding step in the right direction for Chapel Hill and its current and future residents.” Beauregard also took a strong stance against current councilmember and mayoral candidate Adam Searing and four candidates for town council: David Adams, Breckany Eckhardt, Elizabeth Sharp and Renuka Soll, referring to them as the “axis of ‘no.'”

“In a town that prides itself on its willingness to embrace progressive causes,” Beauregard wrote, “there exists a substantial and aggravating faction that likes to stand in front of an ambulance carrying much-needed supplies to a disaster site and complain that the ambulance is moving too fast.”

Ten candidates are running for the town council, with only one incumbent — Amy Ryan — among them. Sitting councilmembers Tai Huynh and Michael Parker have already announced they will leave the council after this election cycle. For more information on local elections in and around Chapel Hill, click here.

 

Featured image via Michael Beauregard on Twitter

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