It’s Monday, August 5.
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Good morning, readers.
Raleigh voters will go to the polls this fall to choose a new mayor. The seven other nonpartisan city council seats—two at-large and five representing districts A through E—are also up for election.
With the general election three months away, the candidates’ mid-year campaign finance reports offer an early indication of who some of the strongest contenders are for these seats.
Most notably, mayoral candidate Janet Cowell is vastly out-fundraising her competitors. Cowell is the president and CEO of the Dix Park Conservancy and a former Raleigh city council member, state senator, and state treasurer. She’s running against community activist and NC State professor Terrance Ruth, conservative mortgage lender Paul Fitts, educator and community advocate Eurgene Myrick, and William Peace University Student James Shaughnessy IV.
Cowell has raised over $378,000 this election, compared to Fitts’s $16,600 and Ruth’s $7,300. Campaign finance reports for Myrick and Shaughnessy were not available on the NC Board of Elections website.
Elsewhere on the ballot, the new finance reports show incumbent councilors Mary Black and Christina Jones facing stiff competition in Districts A and E, respectively.
In the At-Large race, incumbents Stormie Forte and Jonathan Melton are facing five challengers. And in District C, council member Corey Branch—who recently withdrew his bid for mayor—is campaigning in a crowded field of seven candidates.
Heading into election season, housing affordability and growth are front-of-mind for Raleigh voters. According to a July poll commissioned by the neighborhood activist group Livable Raleigh, 43 percent of Raleighites think a lack of affordable housing for middle- and low-income families is the biggest problem facing their city right now. Residents are also worried about high taxes, traffic congestion, and crime and violence, according to the poll.
Have a good Monday.
—Chloe
Come work with us! The INDY is hiring an editor in chief. Click here for details and how to apply. And read about some exciting new changes coming to the INDY.
Durham
A nonprofit for teen entrepreneurs is making sure students get meals this summer while DPS kitchens are closed.
ICYMI: The Durham City Council gets back to business this week.
Wake
The City of Raleigh is blocking a road out to a popular Neuse River access point after four drownings have happened there since May.
Orange
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees will receive an update on the university’s chancellor search, but so far no one is naming any of the finalists.
North Carolina
Former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr is leading Kamala Harris’s outreach to independents and moderate Republicans in North Carolina.
Today’s weather
A high of 89 degrees with a chance of showers and storms.
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