To reflect on the year, Chapelboro.com is re-publishing some of the top stories that impacted and defined our community’s experience in 2021. These stories and topics affected Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the rest of our region.
The importance of local government elections cannot be overlooked when discussing the trajectory of our region’s future. For some towns, the 2021 elections represented significant change for the elected bodies leading the community.
For the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, it was clear early in 2021 that the fall elections would shake up their respective leadership. In May, Lydia Lavelle announced she would not seek re-election as the mayor of Carrboro, meaning a new leader would take the role after eight years. In Chapel Hill, the town council was expected to see changes as Allen Buansi announced he would not run again and a seat left vacant from Rachel Schaevitz’s departure was up for election. Later, council member Hongbin Gu announced she would instead run for Chapel Hill mayor instead of the town council, opening a third seat.
Similar change was forecasted for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education. Three seats on the board were left open by departures of Joal Broun, Lisa Kaylie and Mary Ann Wolf.
In Chatham County, Pittsboro’s elections had a unique wrinkle of a former mayor, Cindy Perry, running for the position opposite of the mayor she endorsed when she left office, James Nass.
By the time election filing closed, every race except one in Orange County was contested: Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver ran unopposed for her second term. The result was a busy campaign season in all of the local towns, with many events, forums and endorsements to aid residents with making informed votes.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, voting sites established more public health precautions once again. Voters were required to wear a face mask while indoors and to vote with single-use pens to limit any contact with others. Social distancing was also enforced, although turnout was down compared to the 2020 elections.
Election Day ultimately saw many of the local races decided with wide margins. Damon Seils won the mayoral race in Carrboro with more than 90 percent of the vote, as the two-term town council member became the town’s 24th mayor. In Hillsborough, incumbents Kathleen Ferguson and Robb English each earned more than 40 percent of the vote to maintain seats on the town’s Board of Commissioners. The trio of Riza Jenkins, Mike Sharp and George Griffin also maintained strong, early leads in the CHCCS school board race to earn election for the three open seats. Pittsboro’s mayoral race also heavily favored Perry, as she defeated Nass with 65 percent of the vote.
Mike Sharp, Riza Jenkins and George Griffin at Jenkins’ home posing for a photo after winning election to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education on November 2, 2021.
The race for Chapel Hill Town Council similarly saw three candidates separate from the pack as results were announced. Lone incumbent Karen Stegman and newcomers Paris Miller-Foushee and Camille Berry each earned roughly 20 percent of the vote. Adam Searing went on to claim the fourth open spot to bring the town council back to eight members. Meanwhile, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger was re-elected for a fourth term with more than 60 percent of the vote — one of the closer races she’s had in recent years due to Gu’s campaign.
In Carrboro, a newcomer made a splash in the results and earned election to town council. Danny Nowell, a writer and musician, earned the second-highest vote percentage with 25 percent. Incumbent Barbara Foushee was re-elected with nearly 33 percent of the vote and incumbent Randee Haven-O’Donnell earned the final seat with 18 percent.
The results meant long-time council member Jacquelyn Gist, who earned nearly 16 percent of the vote, left the town government at the end of 2021. She had served on the town council since 1989 and Nowell’s election signaled the first time since 2001 a challenger candidate beat an incumbent for the Carrboro voting body.
The 2021-22 Carrboro Town Council. (Photo via the Town of Carrboro.)
Despite these elections, Carrboro is left with a vacant seat on its town council from Seils’ election as mayor. The town council decided that the seat, which has two years of service left in its term, will be filled with a special election in early 2022.
To view full local election results from Orange County, click here.
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