Orange County Municipal Elections: Coverage + Results

THE FINAL VOTES ARE IN!

Pam Hemminger has won a fourth term as Chapel Hill mayor, defeating CHALT-endorsed challenger Hongbin Gu 61-37 percent. In Carrboro, Damon Seils swept the mayors race hoarding 90 percent of votes over Michael Benson. 

Chapel Hill Town Council incumbent Karen Stegman was the top voter getter by just 30 points in a near three-way split with Camille Berry and Paris Miller-Foushee. They won election with 20 percent each while Adam Searing hung on to fourth place with 17 percent of the vote, edging out Vilmala Rajendran. The top four earned seats on the council. 

In the Carrboro council race, Barbara Foushee led the pack with 32 percent of the vote, followed by Danny Nowell and Randee Haven-O’Donnell with 25 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Voters split the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners ticket between Kathleen Ferguson and Robb English, who were separated by just just 65 votes. Each won a seat. Incumbent Jenn Weaver ran unopposed in the mayoral race.

For the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school board, voters backed Riza Jenkins, George Griffin, and Mike Sharp in a near three-way split. 

UPDATE: Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger continues to lead challenger Hongbin Gu by 20 points with 80 percent of precincts reporting. Damon Seils continues to crush Michael Benson in the Carrboro mayors race, holding 90 percent of the votes. 

The margins haven’t shifted much in the Carrboro or Chapel Hill council races. 

In Chapel Hill, voters split the ticket three ways between Karen Stegman, Camille Berry, and Paris Miller-Foushee, who were separated by just 7 votes. They lead with about 20 percent of votes each. CHALT-backed candidate Adam Searing held onto fourth place about 3 points shy, with 17 percent of votes. At this point, Vilmala Rajendran would need more than 600 votes to catch up. 

UPDATE: With 50 percent of precincts reporting in Orange County, incumbent Pam Hemminger and Damon Seils lead Chapel Hill and Carrboro mayoral races. 

Hemminger has captured about 61 percent of the vote to challenger Hongbin Gu’s 37 percent, a margin that was nearly identically reflected in early voting totals. Seils led by 91 percent of the vote over Michael Benson in the Carrboro mayor’s race. 

For Chapel Hill town council, candidates Paris Miller-Foushee, Karen Stegman, Camille Berry, and Adam Searing hold on to strong leads. 

Carrboro council candidates Barbara Foushee, Danny Nowell, and Randee Haven-O’Donnell continue to lead. 

Riz Jenkins, George Griffin, and Mike Sharp have almost evenly split the vote on the three-seat race for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school board. 

If early voting numbers are any indicator, Pam Hemminger and Damon Seils seem poised to sweep the Chapel Hill and Carrboro mayoral races.

About 7,200 Orange County residents cast ballots early this election, either through early voting or mail-in ballots, about 10 percent of residents voters in the county. 

In the Chapel Hill mayor’s race, Hemminger took an early lead over CHALT-backed candidate Hongbin Gu, leading 60-38 percent and separated by just under 900 votes. In the race for four open town council seats, Paris Miller-Foushee, Karen Stegman, Camille Berry, and Adam Searing led the pack, with Vilmala Rajendran a close fifth. 

Seils seemed poised to sweep the Carrboro mayor’s race, raking in 92 percent of early votes over challenger Michael Benson. The Carrboro council race has three open seats, and so far Barbara Foushee, Danny Nowell, and Randee Haven-O’Donnell lead in the vote totals, with Jacquelyn Gist not far behind. 

Jenn Weaver ran unopposed for mayor of Hillsborough, but 11 early voters supported write-in candidates. In the Board of Commissioners race, Kathleen Ferguson and Robb English took a strong lead for the two open seats. 

In the school board race for Chapel Hill-Carrboro, George Griffin, Riza Jenkins, and Mike Sharp swept up about a third of early votes each in the three-seat race. 

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Follow Senior Staff Writer Leigh Tauss on Twitter or send an email to [email protected].