Cary’s town council has seen a shakeup in recent years, with newcomers to town government arriving and longtime council members leaving the board in the last three election cycles.
This fall’s municipal election promises more of the same; at least one new face will join the council in District C as Jack Smith vacates his seat after 36 years of service, and two incumbents are in tough fights to defend their seats in District A and at large.
While no town council member’s name was on the ballot in last fall’s general election, Cary voters still found a way to make a statement. They voted to reject two bond proposals—a $560 million package for park projects and a $30 million affordable housing initiative—by 10- and three-point margins, respectively.
Combined, the bonds would have increased the town’s tax rate by 9¢, staggered in 3¢ increments on a biennial basis, if voters had given their approval. As things stand, town leaders and residents still name affordable housing and parks and green spaces as priorities, but leaders on the council will have the continued challenge of figuring out how to pay for these priorities.
Will they raise the town’s tax rate—still one of the lowest in the county at 34¢ per $100 valuation—again, or will they make decisions to cut services or find ways to deliver on ongoing projects more affordably?
While the town council races are officially nonpartisan, it’s notable that all of the races divide neatly along party lines. Overall, Cary leans slightly more blue, with more than half of the town’s 119,000 registered voters being unaffiliated. A growing, increasingly politically engaged Asian American population is looking to make inroads this election as well.
For our Cary Town Council endorsements, we considered candidates’ prior experience and understanding of the council’s role and capabilities. We looked at who is best positioned to serve the town’s diverse constituency and who seems prepared to make difficult decisions with forethought and care.
We reached out to all six candidates for interviews, talked to others knowledgeable about local government, reviewed voting records, attended candidate forums, and relied on our own reporting to come to a consensus about whom to recommend.
Here are our endorsements for the Cary Town Council District A, District C, and at-large seats.
District A
Brittany Richards
In the four years she’s lived in Cary, Brittany Richards has immersed herself in civic life as a member of the environmental advisory board, a precinct officer, and a volunteer and advocate for environmental causes. A professional who’s worked with nonprofits and universities, Richards also holds a master’s degree in public policy and diligently attends town council meetings, notebook in hand.
On the issues, Richards doesn’t differ much from her opponent, Jennifer Robinson. She supports preserving green spaces and Cary’s tree canopy, maintaining the high quality of the town’s services, and expanding housing types and affordable options. Richards wants to continue adding density where it makes sense and would spearhead changes to Cary’s zoning ordinances to encourage more missing middle housing.
A strategic adviser at SAS, Robinson has been a steady leader during her 26 years on the council, and her service on town committees and relationships with officials countywide are valuable. She has good ideas around encouraging more housing, including leaning into partnerships with housing nonprofits.
But District A has grown in the last decade and now skews younger and more progressive; we think it would benefit from a fresh perspective. We were also disappointed to see emails Robinson wrote from her town account in 2023 disparaging members of the LGBTQ community in relation to a Christmas parade float. In a time when vulnerable communities—immigrants, transgender people—are under attack at the federal level, we think all Cary residents deserve to know they have the support of their local elected officials.
The INDY endorses Brittany Richards.
District C
Bella Huang
In District C, which leans older and more conservative compared to Cary at large, two relative newcomers are vying to replace Jack Smith. Although neither candidate has held office before, each has a history of political engagement that tells us a bit about how they’d approach the job.
Bella Huang is a co-founder of the Margin of Victory Empowerment (MOVE) Foundation and political action committee, which work to increase Asian American representation in government. She also co-founded the North Carolina Asian Americans Alliance, which puts on cultural events and festivals. As a Chinese American immigrant herself, Huang says she wants to serve and represent Cary’s large and growing Asian population. She has a master’s in business administration and runs an online small business selling laptop covers.
Huang’s platform centers on sustainability, improving infrastructure, expanding town services for youth and seniors, and addressing the rising cost of living in Cary. She wants to see the town partner with nonprofits to build housing that’s truly affordable and supports reintroducing an affordable housing bond.
Huang’s opponent, Renee Miller, ran for this seat in 2022 and lost to Smith by a slim margin. She’s a current member of Cary’s greenway committee and was president of the Western Wake Republican Club for six years. Miller is campaigning as a fiscal conservative who would keep Cary’s tax rate low, but she also wants to invest in the town’s police and fire departments, roads, and senior services—and doesn’t have a clear answer for how she’d square those conflicting priorities. When it comes to housing, Miller’s skepticism of density and mixed-income development feels out-of-step with Cary’s current shortage of affordable options.
The INDY endorses Bella Huang.
At-Large
Carissa Kohn-Johnson
In her four years on council, Carissa Kohn-Johnson has focused on all the right priorities. With a background in gerontology, Kohn-Johnson is particularly aware of how a lopsided housing market can disadvantage retirees and empty nesters looking to downsize—that’s an excellent perspective to have when governing on behalf of Wake County’s oldest municipal population.
What really impresses us about Kohn-Johnson, though, is her honesty. North Carolina town governments don’t have all that much power, and the most effective local officials are often those who are clear-eyed about their options and honest with residents about financial pressures. This year, the council unanimously voted to raise taxes, and Kohn-Johnson is already openly warning residents that another, albeit more moderate, increase is coming unless the town decides to cut services. Kohn-Johnson has also proven more than willing to engage—we’ve seen her clarifying her stances for voters at town events and even on Reddit.
Her challenger, Marjorie Eastman, has an admirable record of public service as a U.S. Army combat veteran. In her unsuccessful 2022 campaign for U.S. Senate, Eastman held her own on the Republican primary debate stage, but we’re not sure that her defense expertise and focus on national politics lend themselves to town governance. Eastman has some local government experience serving on Cary’s economic development committee, but we’re not seeing her offer a clear plan to bring down what she has criticized as the council’s “reckless spending” while also fulfilling her promise to hire more police officers and firefighters.
The INDY endorses Carissa Kohn-Johnson for another term.
INDY editor-in-chief Sarah Willets, Wake County editor Jane Porter and staff writers Chloe Courtney Bohl and Chase Pellegrini de Paur contributed to these endorsements.
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