The City of Raleigh has changed how it elects its eight-member city council, and for the first time ever this year, it’s holding a nonpartisan primary election on March 3 for all seats for which more than two candidates have filed to run.
The council’s two at-large seats and District C seat feature competitive primary races. All Raleigh voters will vote for two candidates in the six-candidate at-large race, and District C voters will vote for one of four candidates in that primary. The top four vote-getting candidates will advance to the at-large general election in November, as will the top two vote-getters in District C.
In the general election, the mayor’s seat and all city council seats will appear on the ballot. All of those races are competitive except District B, where the incumbent, Councilmember Megan Patton, is running unopposed. With at-large councilmember Jonathan Lambert-Melton leaving the city council to run for one of two new at-large seats on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, Raleigh is guaranteed to have at least one new member on council in 2027.
Going forward, city council members will serve four-year staggered terms, starting in 2027 for the mayor, Districts A and B council members, and the at-large council candidate who gets the most votes in November, who will serve through 2030. An election in 2028 will see council members elected again in Districts C, D, E, and for the other at-large seat, with terms lasting through 2032.
Over the last month, the INDY spoke with the six candidates running for one of two at-large seats about their backgrounds, priorities, what they think sets them apart from the other candidates, and the big ideas they want to bring to the Raleigh City Council.
Early voting for the primary begins February 12. Voters can check their registration, view sample ballots, and find their polling places here.
Candidates for the Raleigh City Council At-Large Seats
Clark Rinehart
Clark Rinehart, a Miami native and industrial engineer, has lived in Raleigh for 17 years after moving to the Triangle to study theology at Duke Divinity School. A current resident of District C, Rinehart pastored a church in North Raleigh for nearly a decade before holding community-building and social entrepreneurship roles across the Triangle, including with the Loading Dock, Innovate Raleigh and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.
Rinehart said the intersection of community engagement, community development, and economic development that is a feature of his professional life positions him well to listen and learn from Raleigh’s communities and “figure out how to get folks as many living wage jobs as possible so that they have the kind of opportunities … a lot of us dream of for ourselves and our neighbors.”
Council Priorities
- Housing affordability
- Public safety
- Infrastructure
- Entrepreneurship culture
Big idea
Work with clergy, elected leaders, and other partners to use church-owned parcels of land for the community’s benefit
According to data he compiled in 2023, faith-based organizations own roughly 150 acres assessed at $500 million inside the Beltline, Rinehart said. But, due to their tax-exempt status, the city isn’t collecting revenue on what often amounts to prime real estate.
“For me, once you start to own parcels of land and then not always utilize them well for community benefit, that’s kind of a double burn on the community,” Rinehart said. “You’re not paying in appropriately, like others do who don’t have that privileged tax class. [And then] Wednesday nights and Sundays are your key days, and otherwise, a lot of these entities are not actively using their space.”
Rinehart said he’s been looking at ways local churches make decisions around land use and how they could use property they own “to “create the kind of affordable and attainable housing that we dream of in our city.”
“I would love to see ‘Yes in God’s Backyard’ become more of how we think about building housing, particularly in the urban core, with some more density.”
Church-owned parking lots, especially, are prime for this kind of redevelopment, as many are already zoned for high density mixed use, close to affordable parking options downtown, and located along the city’s busiest public transit routes.
“[This] is one of the easiest on-ramps to create housing supply with partners that say they want to be a good neighbor and have a privileged tax class to potentially help get it done,” Rinehart said. “[We should have] a more robust conversation about what a paradigm might look like to involve faith based entities in the development mix and to look at different ways of public private partnerships happening in Raleigh.”
Cameron Zamot
The founder of The Bike Library, a cafe and bike rental company that opened in July in Boylan Heights, Cameron Zamot is the youngest candidate for the at-large seat and the newest to Raleigh. With a military background, the District D resident has lived and travelled all over the world, and in Raleigh, he worked for a stint in the city’s transportation department. Zamot said his work in Raleigh “feels like I’m planting something in soil where it can grow.”
“Everything I’ve tried so far to get going in Raleigh, whether it’s the bike library or a weekly ride or a nonprofit … has seemed to find roots in some way or another,” Zamot said. “ … Whereas, in other places, I have tried to start things, and it feels like I’m planting something in sand or in rocks. It doesn’t feel like that here.”
Council Priorities
- Affordable living and walkable neighborhoods
- Fewer traffic deaths
- Transit “that takes you where you need to go”
- Improve communication among city staff and elected officials
Big ideas
Make UDO text changes to create more diverse, mixed-income neighborhoods
Zamot said simple text changes to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) would make it easier to build more densely without relying solely on high-rise buildings. Changing building setbacks and minimum lot sizes in certain zoning districts would allow for greater density, he said, as would allowing quadplexes in more places (then one unit of each new quadplex, he said, could be classified as affordable). Additionally, Zamot said, the city opting into the state-legislated exempt-plat program, as Durham has done, would make it easier to subdivide lots into three parcels for smaller scale, multi-unit building.
Zonal service transit system
Zamot advocates transitioning from a “hub and spoke” model for Raleigh’s bus service to a zonal service, or “point-to-point” service system. In the hub and spoke model, all transit service is routed through one or a few central hubs—in Raleigh’s case, the GoRaleigh Station downtown.
In a zonal service system, the city would be divided into zones, with bus travel within the different zones. Zamot said the city needs to look at moving some services away from the GoRaleigh station, a position he knows is controversial but said would “make the city better.”
“If we stop dipping every single line into the GoRaleigh station, more people will want to use the bus, and that is what I want,” Zamot said. “I believe that if we move some of them out—and my friend whose car broke down … doesn’t have to take two separate buses and a 15 minute stop to get to work—then that is the solution.”
Sana Siddiqui
In the 26 years she’s lived in Raleigh, Sana Siddiqui has graduated from NC State, built a product management career in the manufacturing industry, started a small business, launched the First Friday Movie Night and Market in partnership with the City of Raleigh, and volunteered on the city’s Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs board, Environmental Advisory Board, and Human Relations Commission.
“All of that experience,” the North Raleigh resident said, “has given me a good understanding of what it’s like to live in the city, how the city works, where things may get stuck and where are the challenges, what needs to be done better. … I’ve worked directly with people across the city from different backgrounds, so I get to see challenges different communities have.”
Council Priorities
- Small businesses
- Growth, neighborhoods and housing
- Supporting city staff
- Community engagement
Big ideas
Bring together leaders from different communities
Siddiqui said she wants to find a way—potentially through Raleigh’s restored system of Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs)—to engage leaders from different resident communities and “bring them to the table, get them to care [about city operations and opportunities] so that they can get people within their communities to care.”
“I’m an immigrant and I am involved with my faith-based community,” Siddiqui said. “I’m involved with my cultural communities, and many of the people are very disconnected. I have a lot of friends from Latino community. I know they’re disconnected overall. They do things together as a community, but there’s a disconnect when it comes to engaging with the city or getting their feedback.”
Support small businesses
Siddiqui wants to support small businesses as they grow by improving the city’s permitting processes, strengthening the city’s small business grant programs, and exploring commercial rent incentives or other relief tools as operating costs continue to rise.
Siddiqui said providing businesses with clear timelines and faster approvals for low-risk permits could help storefronts open faster, and she wants to conduct an audit to identify bottlenecks and make data-driven improvements. She said better communicating grant opportunities to businesses will make those programs more accessible.
Revisit housing affordability incentives to create more mixed-income neighborhoods
While mandating that developers include affordable housing in projects is not legal under state law, Siddiqui advocated taking a more aggressive approach to incentivizing developers to include affordable units. She suggested looking to Chapel Hill, where town leaders have traditionally negotiated for more affordable units by tightly controlling zoning designations and fast-tracking projects with more affordability.
Joshua Bradley
The only self-described socialist and Green Party candidate in the race, Joshua Bradley is a District A resident and frequent public commenter at City Hall embarking on his fourth run for a Raleigh City Council seat. (In 2024, running at-large, Bradley placed sixth out of seven candidates.)
Bradley said he’s motivated by a desire to be a voice for Raleigh’s workers, low-income, and unhoused residents.
“There needs to be somebody with a conscience in there [on the council],” Bradley said. “People say, well, business needs a seat at the table, but business owns the table, right? It’d be nice to have the workers represented, the people that are otherwise, or generally, ignored.”
Council Priorities:
- Housing justice
- Racial justice and equity
- Workers rights
- Environmental justice
- Non-discrimination and community inclusion
Big ideas
Prioritize building affordable housing on city-owned land and expand housing services
Bradley said it would be cheaper for the city to continue to build housing on the hundreds of acres of land it currently owns than to offer “sweetheart deals” to developers to build units that aren’t far below market rate. (Raleigh is already building affordable housing on land it owns; notable projects include the Cottages of Idlewild, a partnership with the Raleigh Area Land Trust; the affordable rental homes partnership with Southeast Raleigh Promise; and the 160 new units planned for city-owned land near Moore Square.)
Bradley added that reallocating money in the budget to services for low-income and unhoused residents improves public safety.
“Forcing people through the jail system, arresting people for loitering … is more expensive than actually providing housing, and it does no favors to the people that are victimized,” Bradley said.
Fully fund the Crisis Alternative Response for Empathy and Support (CARES) program
While Raleigh has launched a new crisis diversion call line that operates outside of the police department, the City of Oaks still trails peer cities in terms of alternative response programs. Durham, for instance, has created an entire team separate from the police that works to reduce harm and extend care. Its crisis response unit—the Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART)— is embedded in the 911 center and has responded to more than 40,000 calls with and without first responders.
“[The city] started the referral from 911, which is good, but it needs to be fully funded, because we don’t need police out trying to help people in crisis,” Bradley said. “We, as a society, need to redesign how we do policing. But I think [fully funding] the alternative crisis response … would help … [and police officers] could focus on more traditional policing, stuff that they, in theory, have training for.”
James Bledsoe
A 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army, James Bledsoe is running for an at-large seat for the third consecutive election cycle, following a run for the Raleigh District C seat in 2017. In 2024, Bledsoe placed third in a field of seven candidates. While he has run on a conservative platform in the past, Bledsoe is running as a registered Republican for the first time this year. After serving three tours of combat, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan, Bledsoe retired from the military last May. He has worked in IT roles for the State of North Carolina for 14 years and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
Bledsoe said he wants to fully audit the city’s budget, eliminate wasteful spending—such as spending on art for police and fire stations—and pay off the city’s debt. “I would love to start fixing things around here without raising taxes,” Bledsoe said.
Council priorities:
- Address affordability and the housing shortage
- Infrastructure improvements
- Public safety
- Support first responders and veterans
Big ideas
Work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on infrastructure improvements
Bledsoe proposes using federal grants to improve city infrastructure, such as stormwater and sewer systems.
“After working with Army Corps of Engineers for as long as I have, there are a lot of resources I could tap there, and honestly we could certainly use their help,” Bledsoe said. “It would be good training for them to be able to look at infrastructure development or redevelopment for Raleigh. It’s not free but … it’s certainly an avenue worth approaching.”
Lobby the General Assembly for a property tax relief program for longtime homeowners
In North Carolina, 100% permanently disabled veterans are eligible to receive a $45,000 tax-exemption on the appraised value of their primary residence. Bledsoe wants to lobby the General Assembly to pilot a program that would extend that tax-exemption to homeowners in Raleigh or Wake County who have owned and lived in their homes for 20 years or longer.
“That would help a lot of folks who have sticker shock when we have property tax increases,” Bledsoe said.
Bring back the city’s Veterans Day parade
Raleigh updated its rules around motor vehicles in parades following a young girl’s death in the city’s Christmas parade in 2022. Since then, the annual Veteran’s Day parade in November has not happened.
“I want to remove a lot of these requirements for these 70-plus-year-old men that are just trying to drive their own vehicles downtown to have a parade,” Bledsoe said.
Stormie Forte
The only incumbent in the race and the top vote-getter in the 2024 at-large election, Stormie Forte has served on the Raleigh City Council since 2020. Forte is a licensed attorney and a principal at a consulting services provider that assists businesses with economic development opportunities. As a Guardian ad Litem for the state, Forte also provides legal representation to children involved with social services cases.
“I want to convey to folks that I’m happy to serve on the council,” the Raleigh native and current District D resident said. “Being the first Black female to serve on the Raleigh City Council, being a member of the LGBTQ community as well, provides a diversity of experience, but also diversity of perspective, which is important to have on the council.”
Council priorities:
- Affordable housing accessibility
- Efficient public transit
- City infrastructure improvements
- Economic development for small businesses
Big idea
Bring a Major League Baseball team to Raleigh
Forte is an avid sports fan, but it’s the economic impact of landing an MLB expansion team that she sees as a key opportunity for Raleigh’s future.
“You’re talking about an average of, maybe annually, a $3 billion impact and tax revenues that, I mean, there’s just so much stuff that we could fund if we were able to secure a team,” Forte said.
Money from baseball could pay for affordable housing initiatives, more shelters for unhoused residents, and “certainly being able to fund the ramp-up a little bit more quickly of getting more positions into public safety, the police department, the fire department, but even all of our [city] staff,” Forte said.
While Raleigh’s last budget gave city staff average raises of 9 to 11% without increasing taxes, Forte said having a professional baseball team in town would mean keeping city worker salaries competitive in perpetuity.
“[A team] would also have a reverberating impact on our small business community,” Forte said. “Just the revenue from having that amount of people coming into the city to watch 82 baseball games a year … It would certainly be a gamechanger for our community, if we were able to get that done.”
Forte said she’s optimistic about Raleigh’s chances of pulling it off. It’s a well-run, well-managed city, she emphasized, and doesn’t have some of the same problems as peer cities and neighboring towns. Plus, Raleigh frequently tops lists of best places to live, work, and raise a family.
“We’ve just got to make sure that information gets in front of the people who make the decision about whether we get a team,” Forte said. “Because [compared] to other markets that are under consideration, our numbers are probably a lot better in terms of folks who want to come to the games … We’ve just got to put our best foot forward and really showcase Raleigh.”
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