Who won the Raleigh city council election, and will there be a runoff? : Raleigh Convergence

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Updated 12 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14.

Now we know who the next Raleigh city council will be!

After early voting, Election Day votes and absentee ballots received by Tuesday were tabulated by the Board of Elections, we were anticipating candidates would call for a runoff election.

Three races didn’t receive the percentage of total votes needed to win, so the second-place vote-getter could call for a runoff election Nov. 5.

That didn’t happen.

On Friday, Charles Francis (mayoral candidate), current at-large council member and candidate Russ Stephenson, and incumbent District D councilor and candidate Kay Crowder each announced that none of them would seek a runoff in their respective races, as both the News & Observer and INDY Week reported.

Here’s who will be on your next Raleigh City Council:
Mayor: Mary-Ann Baldwin
At-large candidate: Jonathan Melton
District D: Saige Martin

That rounds out the races decided after Election Night:
At-large candidate (1 of 2): Nicole Stewart (re-elected)
District A: Patrick Buffkin
District B: David Cox (re-elected)
District C: Corey Branch (re-elected)
District E: David Knight

Also notable: With the election of Saige Martin and Jonathan Melton, Raleigh now has its first LGBTQ representation on the council, INDY Week reported.

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On Tuesday, Raleighites decidedly re-elected three City Council members and two new ones. Three other races, including the mayoral contest, could head to a runoff on Nov. 5.

The NC State Board of Elections published unofficial results at 10:24 p.m. Tuesday, which included early voting, Election Day votes and absentee ballots received by Monday. Provisional ballots and additional absentee ballots will be added later.

Here are the (unofficial) results.

These races could head to a runoff for not receiving the percentage of total votes needed to win:

MAYORAL RACE (needed 50%+1 vote):

Mary-Ann Baldwin 38%

Charles Francis 31%

AT-LARGE CANDIDATE (needed 25%):

Jonathan Melton 23%

Russ Stephenson 19%

(Note: Nicole Stewart received enough votes for one of the two at-large councilor seats).

DISTRICT D (needed 50%+1 vote):

Saige Martin 47%

Kay Crowder 33%

It’s likely a runoff will happen (read more coverage on INDY Week), but it’s unclear which races will be on the ballot. The second-place candidate must call for a runoff election.

As of Wednesday night at 8 p.m., mayoral second-place vote-getter Charles Francis had not yet announced if he would request a runoff, though INDY Week reports he said “tomorrow we’re going to put our running shoes on.”

Anna Johnson of the News & Observer reported that though Russ Stephenson (an incumbent) had told some reporters that “the campaign begins again tomorrow,” his challenge for the at-large seat isn’t official.

Kay Crowder (also a current councilor) is also reportedly still deciding if she’ll request a runoff for District D.

How a runoff election (would) work

You can vote in the runoff even if you didn’t vote in the Oct. 8 election. If you didn’t register in time for the Raleigh municipal election, you can now or during early voting (assuming there is a runoff).

Early voting for the Nov. 5 runoff would be Oct. 16-Nov. 1. The same Raleigh sites for early voting for the Oct. 8 election would be used for the Nov. 5 runoff.

However, the candidates have until Oct. 17 to call for a runoff.