Oct. 8, 2024

Five of the next nine members of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners will not have faced the bracing, occasionally brutal, but always informative debate when candidates face partisan opposition in a general election.

Two of the four incumbents who might return to the board were in the room this morning, but their opponents were not. Those two faced a barrage of questions about county policy and even the issues facing voters in districts they do not formally represent. Both said they took seriously that when they vote, they act out of an assumption that they are responsible to all Mecklenburg residents for their decisions.

Two of the four incumbents who might return were not present. And the opponent of only one of those two was present.

In days gone by, all candidates in a given race would willingly sit at a Forum table together and answer questions. It was a time for active democracy – voters controlling the questions, making their own judgments. At times, it was even a time when competing candidates would meet each other for the first time.  Candidates are perhaps not serving the voters as well as in days gone by.

In District 2, Republican Angela White Edwards faces incumbent Democrat Vilma Leake. Edwards lost to Leake in 2018 and 2022 when Edwards was a registered Democrat.

In District 5, incumbent Laura Meier faces Republican Arthur McCullough. In District 6, incumbent Susan Rodriguez-McDowell faces Republican Jim Marascio.