Mecklenburg County Democratic primary voters have overwhelmingly decided to keep District Attorney Spencer Merriweather in office. He defeated Democratic challenger Toussaint Romain, with nearly 78 percent of the vote.
Since Merriweather has no Republican opponent, he’s secured himself a win in the general election come November.
Merriweather said he plans to reinvent how people see the role of the district attorney, and that he’ll continue to work on the issue of transparency between the DA’s office and the public.
"I think this race actually brought clarity to many questions about what it is that we need in our criminal justice system and I’m excited about the work that we can do as a community," Merriweather said.
"And so I think going forth it’s going to be about building trust and engaging the community in a new and exciting different way. I think an election gives rise to some of the questions people have and I think I have the next four years to answer some of those questions and I’m excited."
Merriweather, Mecklenburg County's first African American district attorney, was appointed to the position late last year when Andrew Murray was nominated U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Romain said he was proud of his campaign. He pushed for more transparency in the DA's office, more scrutiny of police shootings, and alternatives to jailing people who suffer from mental illness and drug abuse.
"We ran on a platform that's different, a plaform that is on reform. And that word 'reform' is quite dangerous when you are in certain circles, but it was one we needed to have a conversation about, and the number of people who showed up to vote for us speaks some volume."
