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Janet Cowell
2024 - Present
2026
0
Janet Cowell is the Mayor of Raleigh in North Carolina. She assumed office on December 2, 2024. Her current term ends in 2026.
Cowell ran for election for Mayor of Raleigh in North Carolina. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Cowell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Cowell (Democratic Party) was the first female North Carolina Treasurer.
Biography
Cowell grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee. She graduated from John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee. After high school, Cowell spent her academic career at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.A. in Asian history, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and an M.A. in international studies from the Lauder Institute. Cowell worked as a financial analyst with HSBC Bank and Lehman Brothers before relocating to North Carolina in 1997, where she worked as an independent business consultant. She also taught at both Peace College and N.C. State University. From 2003 to 2005, Cowell worked for the Sustainable Jobs Fund, a venture capital firm investing in green jobs. From 2005 to 2007, she worked as an associate consultant for strategic planning with Fountain Works.[1][2]
Education
- B.A., University of Pennsylvania
- MBA, Wharton School of Business
- M.A., International studies, Lauder Institute[1][3]
Political career
Mayor of Raleigh (2024-present)
Cowell was first elected to serve as the mayor of Raleigh on November 5, 2024. She was sworn into office on December 2, 2024, succeeding Mary-Ann Baldwin.
North Carolina Treasurer (2008-2017)
In 2007 Cowell announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination for treasurer. She defeated Michael Weisel and David Young in the primary election and went on to defeat state Rep. Bill Daughtridge in the general election. She was re-elected in 2012, but did not seek re-election in 2016.
Appointment to corporate boards and calls for resignation
In February 2016, Cowell was appointed to the board of e-commerce technology company Channel Advisor. In May 2016, she was also appointed to the board of James River Group Holdings, a specialty insurance company. Several shareholders for the group manage state funds in North Carolina, including Wellington Management, which manages over $4 billion in pension funds.[4] In addition to her $125,767 salary as treasurer, Cowell received $125,000 annually in addition to $175,000 in restricted stock options for serving on the boards.
Cowell received permission from the State Ethics Commission to serve on the two boards. However, multiple groups have called for Cowell's resignation, including the State Employees Association of North Carolina and former State Treasurer Richard Moore (D), citing that a public servant serving on corporate boards creates a conflict of interest.[5]
"It's best to save board service for a time when you're no longer a public servant," remarked Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance.[4]
In response to the accusations of conflict of interest, Cowell stated "I have worked hard during the last seven and a half years as Treasurer to enhance accountability in the office. In that spirit, I vetted any opportunities with the state Ethics Commission and voluntarily recused myself from any potential decision-making that involved these companies, neither of which are in the state pension funds." [6][4] Cowell did not run for re-election in 2016.
North Carolina State Senate (2004-2008)
Cowell was first elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2004 and won re-election in 2006. While serving, she "worked on bills to promote energy efficiency in state buildings and pursue data integration in state government."[1]
Raleigh City Council (2001 - 2004)
As a city council member, Cowell voted to open Fayetteville Street and build a new convention center.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2024)
General election
General election for Mayor of Raleigh
Janet Cowell defeated Paul Fitts, Terrance Ruth, Eugene Myrick, and James Shaughnessy IV in the general election for Mayor of Raleigh on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Janet Cowell (Nonpartisan)  | 59.7 | 132,315 |
 | Paul Fitts (Nonpartisan) | 18.3 | 40,688 | |
 | Terrance Ruth (Nonpartisan) | 11.4 | 25,355 | |
 | Eugene Myrick (Nonpartisan) | 6.5 | 14,359 | |
 | James Shaughnessy IV (Nonpartisan) | 3.6 | 8,038 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1,045 | ||
| Total votes: 221,800 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Cowell received the following endorsements.
2016
She was considered to be a potential Democratic candidate for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat in 2016.[7] The seat was held by Sen. Richard Burr (R). As of December 2014, Cowell had not said whether or not she was considering a run, but Public Policy Polling included her in their first poll matching up Burr against potential challengers.[8] She ultimately did not file to run for the seat. There was speculation she would then seek another term as North Carolina treasurer, but she announced in October 2015 that she would not run for re-election.[9]
| Potential match-up: Richard Burr vs. Janet Cowell | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Richard Burr (R) | Janet Cowell (D) | Not sure | Margin of Error | Sample Size | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling December 4-7, 2014 | 44% | 38% | 17% | +/-3.4 | 823 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org | |||||||||||||||||||
2012
Cowell won re-election as North Carolina Treasurer in 2012.[10] She defeated Ron Elmer in the May 8 Democratic primary.[11] Cowell defeated Steve Royal in the general election on November 6, 2012.
| North Carolina Treasurer General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Janet Cowell Incumbent |
53.8% | 2,313,877 | |
| Republican | Steve Royal | 46.2% | 1,984,827 | |
| Total Votes | 4,298,704 | |||
| Election results via NC State Board of Elections | ||||
| North Carolina Treasurer, Democratic Primary, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Janet Cowell Incumbent |
76.6% | 630,151 | ||
| Ron Elmer | 23.4% | 192,134 | ||
| Total Votes | 822,285 | |||
| Election results via The North Carolina Board of Elections. | ||||
Endorsements
2008
Cowell won election as state treasurer in the November 2008 election, defeating Republican Bill Daughtridge.[15]
| North Carolina State Treasurer, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Janet Cowell |
53.6% | 2,179,665 | |
| Republican | Bill Daughtridge | 46.4% | 1,885,724 | |
| Total Votes | 4,065,389 | |||
| Election results via North Carolina State Board of Elections | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Janet Cowell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cowell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
In these roles, I ensured the AAA bond rating for North Carolina and Raleigh through diligent oversight of taxes, spending, and debt. I protected our environment and neighborhoods by establishing a stormwater program to prevent flooding, preventing development in our drinking supply watershed, protecting trees and expanding recycling. I also established mental health parity in the state health plan and supported early efforts at community policing to keep our community safe. I've worked to make sure both public and private boards and the leaders of organizations look like the communities they serve by increasing the number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
I was inspired to go into public service by the example set by her parents. My father was a United Methodist minister and my mother was a school teacher.
I'm running for Mayor because we need a Raleigh that works together for everyone. To achieve it we need to strengthen our partnerships with the state and county governments, nonprofits, and the business community to both tackle immediate issues and plan for the future. We need to address issues of housing, planning and growth, environmental protection and resilience, public safety, homelessness, and mental health.- Raleigh is experiencing a housing crisis. Everyone in Raleigh is feeling the effects of our city’s rapid growth. As a result, the cost of housing has skyrocketed and is preventing teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and others who serve our community from being able to live here. I'll work to solve this problem by diversifying housing options across the city. We must also be willing to invest in our infrastructure such as water, sewer and public transportation to reduce traffic congestion. The City must work with nonprofits like DHIC and others in the space that have specific mandates to work with low-income families to build affordable housing.
- As Mayor, I'll work to support our law enforcement officers by ensuring they have appropriate personnel and fill the large number of current vacancies. They also need competitive pay and affordable housing options so they can live in the city they serve. They should also have the same degree of accountability as any other city department. I'll ensure our police officers can focus on crime. I'll work to build and strengthen partnerships with the state and Wake County government to ensure mental health providers and paramedics can be involved when someone is experiencing a crisis that is not necessarily a crime.
- Raleigh’s open spaces, green spaces, and parkways provide some of the most beautiful parts of our city. They are also cultural hubs and gathering spaces for neighbors that foster connection, creativity, and economic development. I will work with the City Council and Wake County to refine and enhance programs to protect the tree canopy, open spaces, and develop management plans for public spaces. I'll also work to reduce city emissions and address resiliency for our city so no one is left behind after a natural disaster.
My work on all these issues is driven by my core values of equality and progress for everyone.
AFL-CIO North Carolina
Capital City Firefighters IAFF Local 548
Equality North Carolina
Former Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker (2001-2011)
Former Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane (2011-2019)
Former Raleigh Mayor Tom Bradshaw, Jr. (1971-1973)
Home Builders Association of Raleigh - Wake County
North Carolina Police Benevolent Association
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin (2019-)
Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association
Sierra Club North Carolina
Teamsters Local 391 / Raleigh Police Protective Assoc.
Triangle Apartment Association
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
2016 Democratic National Convention
- Delegate to the 2016 DNC (click to expand)
- See also: Democratic National Convention, 2016
Cowell was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from North Carolina.[16] Cowell was one of 13 superdelegates from North Carolina. Superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were not bound by the results of their state’s primary or caucus to support a specific presidential candidate. Cowell supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.[17] Clinton formally won the Democratic nomination for president on July 26, 2016.[18]
What is a superdelegate?
Superdelegates in 2016 were automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meaning that, unlike regular delegates, they were not elected to this position. Also unlike regular delegates, they were not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate, and they were not bound by the results of their state's presidential primary election or caucus. In 2016, superdelegates included members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents. All superdelegates were free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[19]
North Carolina primary results
Hillary Clinton won the North Carolina Democratic primary with roughly 55 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders received 41 percent. Clinton carried North Carolina's largest county by population, Mecklenburg, by more than 20 percentage points over Sanders. The city of Charlotte is located in Mecklenburg. She also won the state's second and third largest counties—Guilford and Wake.[20]North Carolina Democratic Primary, 2016 Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates Hillary Clinton 54.5% 622,915 60 Bernie Sanders 40.9% 467,018 47 Martin O'Malley 1.1% 12,122 0 Roque De La Fuente 0.3% 3,376 0 Other 3.3% 37,485 0 Totals 1,142,916 107 Source: The New York Times and North Carolina State Board of Elections Delegate allocation
North Carolina had 120 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 107 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.[21][22]
Thirteen party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.[21][23]
Noteworthy events
Response to General Assembly underfunding pension
For the first time in nearly 70 years, the General Assembly of North Carolina failed to contribute 100 percent of its share to the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System.
Politicians were required to pay $684 million to keep the pension fund balanced. Instead they set up two scenarios, neither of which amounts to $684 million. The final figure will depend on whether the federal government continues to pay for some state Medicaid programs.[24]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Mayor of Raleigh |
Officeholder Mayor of Raleigh |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 News and Observer, "Janet Cowell," accessed December 19, 2011(dead link)
- ↑ Indyweek, "Janet Cowell | Candidate for State Treasurer," accessed Oct. 2, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Janet Cowell's Biography," accessed Oct. 2, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Charlotte Observer, "Janet Cowell, pick your boss: The public or shareholders," May 2, 2016
- ↑ WUNC, "Calls for State Treasurer Janet Cowell's resignation grow," May 17, 2016
- ↑ WBTV, "Association:State Treasurer Jane Coweel should resign from board or elected position," May 16, 2016
- ↑ National Journal, "Losing Democrats Already Being Touted for 2016 Comebacks," accessed December 11, 2014
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "Burr, McCrory start out with modest leads," accessed December 11, 2014
- ↑ WRAL.com, "NC Treasurer Cowell won't seek re-election," October 13, 2015
- ↑ Biz Journals, "State Treasurer Cowell running again," February 14, 2012
- ↑ FOX 8, "NC Treasurer Janet Cowell wins primary, GOP choosing," May 8, 2012
- ↑ QNotes, "Statewide candidate endorsements announced," September 26, 2012
- ↑ Independent Weekly, "2012 Primary Endorsements," April 18, 2012
- ↑ Charlotte Observer, "Our Council of State endorsements, part 2," October 24, 2012
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "November 2008 General Election Results," accessed May 14, 2011
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention is based on our own research and lists provided by the Democratic National Committee to Vox.com in February 2016 and May 2016. If you think we made an error in identifying superdelegates, please send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ Charlotte Observer, “Christensen: This is not Hillary Clinton’s first rodeo,” February 13, 2016
- ↑ To find out which candidate a superdelegate supported, Ballotpedia sought out public statements from the superdelegate in other media outlets and on social media. If we were unable to find a public statement that clearly articulated which candidate the superdelegate supported at the national convention, we listed that superdelegate as "unknown." If you believe we made an error in identifying which candidate a superdelegate supported, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "North Carolina primary election," March 16, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Democratic National Committee, "2016 Democratic National Convention Delegate/Alternate Allocation," updated February 19, 2016
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2016 Democratic Convention," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Democratic National Committee's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection, "Unpledged Delegates -- By State," May 27, 2016
- ↑ Carolina Journal, "VIDEO: General Assembly Underfunds State Pension," July 23, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mary-Ann Baldwin |
Mayor of Raleigh 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
North Carolina Treasurer 2008-2017 |
Succeeded by Dale Folwell (R) |
| Preceded by - |
North Carolina State Senate 2004-2008 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Raleigh City Council 2001-2004 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||||||||
