Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced Thursday that she will file her paperwork to run for reelection next week. If she wins, it will be her fifth term.
Lyles was first elected mayor in 2017. Should she win reelection in November, she will be the city’s second-longest-serving mayor, after Republican Pat McCrory, who held the office for 14 years.
John Belk and Stan Brookshire were each mayor for eight years in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lyles' decision to run for reelection as a heavy favorite means the focus this fall will be on whether Mecklenburg County voters approve a 1-cent sales tax increase for roads and transit, which is one of the mayor’s signature issues.
The tax would generate roughly $20 billion over the next thirty years. It would build roads; the Red Line commuter train to Lake Norman, along with other light rail lines; and expand the bus system. The city estimates it will cost the average household in the city $240 a year.
Longshot candidate Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel has filed paperwork to run against Lyles in the Democratic primary.
District 3 City Council member Tiawana Brown announced today she will file to run for reelection on Wednesday, the same day as Lyles. Brown was indicted this spring for allegedly fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
She has already drawn two challengers in the Democratic primary: Joi Mayo and Montravias King.
