Charlotte City Council will vote Monday night on a replacement for former at-large member James Mitchell, who stepped down in January.
The city had more than 140 people apply for the job, but then found that only 103 were eligible. On Friday, the council held a nearly three-hour virtual meeting in which 68 of those candidates signed up to speak.
But the race appears to have narrowed to a handful of candidates.
Mitchell wants the council to select Jessica Davis, who works in communications for the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. She lost in the District 2 Democratic primary last year.
Former council member Greg Phipps, who most recently served until 2019, has also said he wants the job.
And there are other candidates who have run for office before, like Ryan McGill and Bruce Clark. Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Erika Ellis-Stewart has also applied.
The person selected will serve until at least December when a new council is sworn in. Some council members want the person selected to pledge not to run this year, while others say the person should be free to run for that seat.
On Friday, Mitchell sent council members and Mayor Vi Lyles an email in which he urged them to pick Davis. He said that in the most recent council vacancies dating back to 2005, the council supported the applicant that the departing member represented.
Mitchell’s list began in 2005 when Malcolm Graham left City Council for the General Assembly.
Council deadlocked on who would replace Graham, with five members supporting Phipps and five members supporting Maxine Eaves. Then-Mayor Pat McCrory broke the tie and picked Phipps.
And while Mitchell wants the council to support his recommendation, he voted against Graham’s recommendation of Phipps that year.
It’s possible there could be a 5-5 tie Monday, in which case Lyles would cast the deciding vote.
Here's the full video of Friday's special City Council meeting:
Who Qualified And Who Didn't
Here's the full list of the 103 people who qualified for the open at-large Charlotte City Council seat:
- Brenda Adams
- Keith Albert
- Stephanie Al-Zubaidy
- Dante Anderson
- Anthony Andrews
- Kathryn Arnold
- Demario Baker
- Susie Bell
- Alicia Benjamin
- Ashlei Blue
- Ashley Bobga
- John Bommelje
- Darrell Bonapart
- Jesse Boyd
- Nicole Braxtan
- Kimberly Brooksbank
- David Brown
- Maria Brown
- John Canaday
- Krisha Chachra
- Bruce Clark
- Rebecca Cuering
- Gordon Culletto
- Jessica Davis
- Noelle De Atley
- Emil De Jong
- Patrick Diamond
- Austen DiPalma
- Natalie Douglas
- LaTasha Earl
- Ericka Ellis-Stewart
- Juan Euvin
- Jessica Foster
- Patricia Frye
- LaToya Fuller
- Samantha Gilman
- Peyton Glendinning
- Amy Goudy
- Maurice Grier
- Stephanie Hand
- Tara Harris
- Nicholas Hatley
- Curtis Hayes
- Clifton Howard
- Adam Howell
- Brandy Jackson
- Amar Johnson
- Steven Jones
- Marcia Kirkpatrick
- Belinda Lanier
- Terry Lansdell
- Juddson Larkins
- Sarai Lewis
- Joshua Lipack
- Daraell Logan
- Tyler Loveless
- Brittany Lyke
- Elizabeth Magan
- Russell Martin
- LaToya McCants
- Brittany McCauley
- Cedric McCorkle
- Ryan McGill
- Nathaniel McGowan
- Felicia Mckoy
- Talathia McKenzie
- Jonathan Mettel
- Keri Miller
- Larry Mims
- Shirley Mitchell
- Rodney Moore
- Joel Odom
- Maritza Ortiz
- Alexa Parsley
- Paul Pegues
- Sydney Pendle
- Gregory Phipps
- Robert Pinka
- Eric Platts
- Kelly Price
- Cherie Readus
- Crystal Screen
- William Shoff
- Jeffrey Simpson, Sr.
- Bryant Sims
- Sarah Smith
- Jason Spooner
- Valerie Starks
- Curtis Stone
- Derrick Suber
- Mark Sumwalt
- Andrea Taylor
- Robin Taylor
- Carl Terrell
- Glenn Thomas
- Jamerican Toney
- Lissette Torres
- Keith Way
- Rebekah Whilden
- Nancy Wiggins
- Gregory Williams
- G. Sean Williams
- Deborah Woolard
Forty applicants, meanwhile, did not qualify for reasons such as not being a registered Democrat (state law requires applicants to be from the same party as the member who vacated the seat), applying after the deadline or living outside city limits. Here's a list, as provided by the city of Charlotte, of those applicants.
- Anthony Anderson
- J. J. Briceno
- Sandra Carter
- Duane Coffey
- Edwina Corprew
- Vicki Craighead-Davis
- Quentin DeBerry
- Gregory Denlea
- Chris Domeny
- Adrian Fields
- Cecil Fletcher
- Keraz Gandhi
- Cameron Gilbreath
- Anjali Griffin
- Steven Howell
- Balla Keita
- Wade Leaphart
- Trey Charles Lowe
- Samir Maniar
- Maya Marshall
- Alfred Minter
- Vicki Morton
- Gina Navarrete
- Anna Nguru
- Christian Pedersen
- Addison Poole
- Tonisha Pope
- Gwen Prince
- Brittany Robinson
- Henry Santos
- Kerwin Scott
- Jasmine Sherman
- Labecca Patrice Thomas
- Sheree Thomas-Belk
- Ricardo Torres
- Kris Tyte
- Mike Vagianos
- Christopher Venezia
- Sherry Washington
- Melissa Young
