Charlotte City Council member James Mitchell is pushing for his colleagues to name him interim mayor to finish the last 17 months of Vi Lyles’ term.
Lyles announced earlier this month that she’s resigning on June 30. She won her fifth term as mayor in November.
Mitchell is now the mayor pro tem, a largely ceremonial role that’s the council’s official number two position. He wants the council to name him to the top spot. In an email to council members, he pledged not to run for mayor in 2027 — a move that could win him support from other potential mayoral candidates among his colleagues.
He also pledged to bring back the vice chair role for council committees, and sent a list of committee assignments. He also proposed four team-building nights at Charlotte sporting events this fall for council members. He calls it “Work Together and Play Together.”
Mitchell is one of the council’s longest-serving members and ran for mayor once before, in 2013. He lost to Patrick Cannon in the Democratic primary.
Shortly after winning reelection to his at-large seat in November, he announced that he had fought bladder cancer for the last five years.
Council members are scheduled to discuss how to fill the vacancy at Tuesday night’s meeting.
