Wiley Nickel is poised to be Wake County’s next district attorney. 

Nickel faced off against Sherita Walton and Melanie Shekita in a three-way Democratic primary for Wake DA. He won 49% of the vote, compared with Walton’s 30% and Shekita’s 20%. 

Nickel succeeds current Wake DA Lorrin Freeman, who has held the seat since 2014 and decided not to seek reelection, creating an open field. Nickel won’t face a challenge from outside his party in the fall, setting him up to begin a four-year term in January.

The results are perhaps as much a referendum on the candidates as they are on Freeman, who had been targeted by criminal justice reformers in previous cycles and drew criticism when she sought to indict then-Attorney General Josh Stein over a 2020 campaign ad.

Nickel had differentiated himself the most with Freeman among the three candidates, criticizing her in particular for not doing more to prosecute political corruption. 

Though Shekita suggested she’d do some things differently than Freeman (such as improving morale and staff retention), she is a 27-year veteran of the office. Shekita had the backing of Colon Willoughby, who held the DA seat for 28 years before Freeman took office. 

Walton, who worked in the Wake DA’s Office for about five years, had Freeman’s endorsement.

Competitive races for Wake County Board of Commissioners, Raleigh City Council, and N.C. House District 37 were also on primary ballots; winners will advance to the general election in the fall. Read on for results in those races. 

House District 37

Winn Decker, an education policy strategist and first-time candidate, won the Democratic primary for the District 37 and will face incumbent Erin Paré, one of Wake County’s only Republican representatives in the state legislature, in the general election. 

District 37 covers Fuquay-Varina and most of Holly Springs. Democrats are hoping to flip the district come fall; the Civitas Partisan Index recently re-rated it from leaning slightly Republican to a toss-up as the district has become more blue.

Decker campaigned on a platform of education and affordability to overcome challengers Marcus Gadson and Ralph Clements. Decker, with a strong door-knocking campaign and willingness to work with Republicans, won about 50% of the vote, while Gadson and Clements won about 38% and 12%, respectively. 

Primaries for a few other Wake County state legislative seats were also on the primary ballot, with incumbents favored to win in the general election.

In Senate District 17, Shirley Johnson won the Republican primary and will face incumbent Democrat Sydney Batch in the fall as well as libertarian candidate Patrick Bowersox. In Senate District 18, Chris Stock won the Republican primary and will face incumbent Democrat ​​Terence Everitt and libertarian Brad Hessel in the general. 

In House District 35, incumbent Republican Mike Schietzelt won that primary and will face Democratic challenger Evonne S. Hopkins in the fall. In House District 38 incumbent Democrat Abe Jones advanced and will be unopposed in the fall. 

Wake County Commissioners

Two candidates for new at-large seats on the Wake County Board of Commissioners will advance to the general election after Tuesday’s Democratic primary: Christine Kushner and Mona Singh. 

Kushner represented Raleigh on the Wake County School Board for 11 years and currently serves on the Wake County Health and Human Services Board. Singh is a first-time candidate and technology consultant.

In a crowded field of seven candidates, Kushner placed first with about 29% of the votes cast and Singh placed second with almost 22%.

Based on past results and candidate résumés, they’ll have a good shot at defeating Republican first-time candidates Gary Hartong and Kyle Stogoski in the fall (because there were only two candidates from the party, there was not a Republican primary for the seat). The top two vote-getters in November will fill two newly created at-large seats on the board, which is growing from seven members to nine. 

To get the new at-large reps on track with the commission’s staggered, four-year terms, the highest vote-getter will serve a four-year term, and the second place candidate will serve a two-year term.

There will also be a competitive race for the board’s District 2 seat in the general. The District 1, District 3, and District 7 seats are up for reelection this year as well, but incumbents are unopposed in those races. 

Raleigh City Council

Raleigh’s first-ever nonpartisan city council primaries narrowed crowded fields for two at-large seats and the council’s District C seat.

Incumbent Stormie Forte and newcomers Sana Siddiqui, Clark Rinehart, and Joshua Bradley will make it through to the at-large general election. Incumbent Corey Branch and Jared Ollison will advance to the District C general election.

In addition to Forte’s seat, a second at-large seat—currently held by Jonathan Lambert-Melton, who ran for county commissioner—was on the ballot. 

Forte has been on the council since 2020, when she became the first Black woman to serve on the Raleigh City Council. She is an attorney, mediator, and consultant who also hosts a local radio talk show. Out of six at-large candidates, she was the only one with prior experience as an elected official and has a devoted following in Raleigh. She won nearly 33% of the votes cast.

Siddiqui is one of the founders of First Friday Movie Night and Market and a  member of the city’s Environmental Advisory and Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs boards. She placed second with about 23% of votes. 

Entrepreneur and former pastor Clark Rinehart and Joshua Bradley, a frequent Green Party candidate and accounting manager, came in third and fourth, respectively, each winning about 12% of votes cast.

In District C, Branch received the most votes—about 54%—as he was widely expected to do. He’s a manager for an IT infrastructure firm who has served on the city council since 2015. Branch is popular in his district; he easily won reelection in 2024. Ollison, a law enforcement officer, narrowly took second place with about 18% of votes.
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, Council member Megan Patton, is running unopposed.

All results are unofficial until certified.

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