Local Elections, Big Impact
Off-year municipal elections can be sleepy affairs, but this year local wins boosted NC environmental advocates from small towns to our state’s biggest city.
Statewide, the results strongly reflected the national ‘blue wave’ pattern seen in other states this fall. Most smaller municipalities in North Carolina hold non-partisan elections, but in many of those the county Democratic and Republican parties often make endorsements.
Blue Shifts Emerge Across Suburban North Carolina
Results in smaller suburban towns that voted for Trump in 2024 showed large swings to Democrat-endorsed candidates in urban and suburban counties around the state. Democrats won mayoral races in typically Republican areas like Burlington and Graham (Alamance County), Wake Forest and Fuquay-Varina (Wake County) and even Warsaw (in rural eastern Duplin County).
In one noteworthy example, former NC League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) staff member Dustin Ingalls led the ballot of eight candidates in winning election to a town commissioner seat in suburban Wendell (Wake County). Ingalls ran on a platform which explicitly featured managing growth to conserve farmland, forests, and green space, adding parks, and increasing the town’s walking and other non-road transportation opportunities.
In red-leaning Alamance County, former mayor Ian Baltutis was returned to office as a city council member, leading this year’s ballot after losing a previous bid for a second term as mayor by a wide margin just four years before. Baltutis is a champion for transit and other transportation alternatives who helped establish the city/county bus system. He campaigned with fellow Democrat Beth Kennett, who is now the first woman mayor-elect of Burlington.
Community Advocate Wins in Smithfield
One of NCLCV’s board members ran and won a seat on city council in Smithfield. Ms. Doris Wallace started as a fellow in our Boards + Commissions program. For over 40 years, Ms. Wallace has advocated for communities through public service. She now hopes to “[work] together to shape the Smithfield we want – a community rooted in trust, collaboration, and opportunity.”
Forsyth County’s New Rules Yield Surprising Results
An unusual situation in Forsyth County this year produced surprising results. Developer Rep. Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth), a leading sponsor of legislation which would gut local governments’ planning and zoning authority, succeeded last year in supporting a bill which mandated that all municipalities in Forsyth County run their town elections on a partisan basis. Previously, only urban Winston-Salem in Forsyth County has held partisan city office elections.
In 2025 for the first time, smaller towns in Forsyth County held partisan elections for town offices. The legislative sponsors of that change – which was opposed on a bipartisan basis by most of the mayors in the county – anticipated that it would create a Republican sweep in the county’s traditionally Republican-leaning smaller towns. Instead, it produced an unprecedented wave of Democratic wins, including the new mayor-elect of Lewisville, and town council members in Lewisville, Clemmons, Kernersville, and Walkertown.
Lewisville Flips Against Its Former Councilman
One of the town council winners in Lewisville, Geraldine Gallagher, made opposition to Zenger-supported legislation which would take away municipal planning and zoning authority, her prime campaign issue. Lewisville is Zenger’s own hometown, where he previously served as a town council member before being elected to the state House seat. His House District 74 is regarded as Forsyth County’s only possible swing seat in the 2026 legislative elections. Efforts by progressive organizations to defeat Zenger in 2026 are already underway.
Charlotte Commits to a More Connected Future
Finally, a heavy off-year turnout in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County powered approval of a referendum on a transit-oriented transportation investment package and accompanying sales tax increase. The projected $25 billion investment over 30 years will finance extensions of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg light rail and streetcar system, improve bus service, and expand roads, sidewalks, and bike lanes.
