Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2026)
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← 2024
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| 2026 Raleigh elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: December 19, 2025 |
| Primary election: March 3, 2026 (canceled) General election: November 3, 2026 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor |
| Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections) |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2026 |
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, is holding a general election for mayor on November 3, 2026. A primary was scheduled for March 3, 2026, but was not needed after only two candidates filed. The filing deadline for this election was December 19, 2025.
As of 2026, Raleigh does not have term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors serve a four-year term.
Elections
Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Mayor of Raleigh
Incumbent Janet Cowell (Nonpartisan) and Ashleigh Heath Armstrong (Nonpartisan) are running in the general election for Mayor of Raleigh on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Janet Cowell (Nonpartisan) | |
| Ashleigh Heath Armstrong (Nonpartisan) | ||
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 = 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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Nonpartisan primary
The primary scheduled for March 3, 2026, was canceled. Incumbent Janet Cowell (Nonpartisan) and Ashleigh Heath Armstrong (Nonpartisan) advanced from the primary for Mayor of Raleigh without appearing on the ballot.
Mayoral partisanship
Raleigh has a Democratic mayor. As of March 2026, 67 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 22 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
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Take our candidate survey
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Past elections
See also: Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2024)
General election
General election for Mayor of Raleigh
Janet Cowell (Nonpartisan) defeated Paul Fitts (Nonpartisan), Terrance Ruth (Nonpartisan), Eugene Myrick (Nonpartisan), and James Shaughnessy IV (Nonpartisan) 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Delmonte Crawford (Nonpartisan)
See also: Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2022)
General election
General election for Mayor of Raleigh
Incumbent Mary-Ann Baldwin (Nonpartisan) defeated Terrance Ruth (Nonpartisan), DaQuanta Copeland (Nonpartisan), and Paul Fitts (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Mayor of Raleigh on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary-Ann Baldwin (Nonpartisan) | 46.6 | 71,521 |
| | Terrance Ruth (Nonpartisan) | 40.6 | 62,371 | |
 | DaQuanta Copeland (Nonpartisan) | 10.2 | 15,640 | |
| | Paul Fitts (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 1.4 | 2,191 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.1% | 1,749 | ||
| Total votes: 153,472 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also: Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2019)
General Runoff
The general runoff scheduled for November 5, 2019, was canceled.
General election
General election for Mayor of Raleigh
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Raleigh on October 8, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary-Ann Baldwin (Nonpartisan) | 38.2 | 20,861 |
 | Charles Francis (Nonpartisan) | 31.1 | 17,017 | |
 | Caroline Sullivan (Nonpartisan) | 20.5 | 11,191 | |
 | Zainab Baloch (Nonpartisan) | 6.5 | 3,553 | |
 | Justin Sutton (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 1,125 | |
 | George Knott (Nonpartisan) | 1.4 | 741 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3% | 142 | ||
| Total votes: 54,630 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
About the city
- See also: Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is a city in Wake County, North Carolina. As of 2020, its population was 467,665.
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Raleigh uses a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[1]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Raleigh, North Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | North Carolina | |
| Population | 467,665 | 10,439,388 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 147 | 48,623 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 57.5% | 67.6% |
| Black/African American | 28.9% | 21.4% |
| Asian | 4.8% | 3% |
| Native American | 0.3% | 1.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | N/A | 3.2% |
| Multiple | 4.2% | 3.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.9% | 9.5% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 92.2% | 88.5% |
| College graduation rate | 51.4% | 32% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $69,720 | $56,642 |
| Persons below poverty level | 11.8% | 14% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
See also
| Raleigh, North Carolina | North Carolina | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
