Tara Waters

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Tara Waters

Democratic Party

Wake County Board of Commissioners District 5

Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

1

Predecessor

James West

Prior offices

Wake County Public School System, District 4

Successor: Toshiba Rice

Predecessor: Keith Sutton

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Appointed

January 2, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

North Carolina State University, 2000

Graduate

East Carolina University, 2003

Personal

Birthplace

Gainesville, Fla.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Community outreach

Contact

Personal LinkedIn

Tara Waters (Democratic Party) is a member of the Wake County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina, representing District 5. She assumed office on January 2, 2024. Her current term ends in 2028.

Waters (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Wake County Board of Commissioners to represent District 5 in North Carolina. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Tara Waters was born in Gainesville, Florida. She earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University in 2000 and a graduate degree from East Carolina University in 2003. Her career experience includes working in community outreach and education.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Wake County, North Carolina (2024)

General election

General election for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 5

Incumbent Tara Waters won election in the general election for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tara Waters (D)	100.0	66,629

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 66,629
= 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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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 5

Incumbent Tara Waters defeated DaQuanta Copeland in the Democratic primary for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 5 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tara Waters	74.3	13,032
		DaQuanta Copeland	25.7	4,506

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,538
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Waters in this election.

2022

See also: Wake County Public School System, North Carolina, elections (2022)

General election

General election for Wake County Public School System, District 4

Incumbent Tara Waters defeated Becky Lew-Hobbs, Michael T. Williams, and Daniel Grant-King in the general election for Wake County Public School System, District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tara Waters (Nonpartisan)	63.3	21,055
		Becky Lew-Hobbs (Nonpartisan)	21.2	7,039
	Submit photo	Michael T. Williams (Nonpartisan)	9.8	3,258
	Submit photo	Daniel Grant-King (Nonpartisan)	5.1	1,691
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	231

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,274
= 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.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tara Waters did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Tara Waters completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Waters' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Tara Waters comes from a family of public-service professionals and is excited to carry on the tradition as a member of the Wake County Board of Education. She aspires to use her love of people, education, and communication to advocate for public schools.

She currently oversees a local government volunteer program. Prior to accepting that position, Tara worked as an adult educator for close to 15 years and was responsible for building community partnerships, supporting workers in transition, and creating classes to enhance the local talent pool.

Committed to equity and inclusion, she has fond memories of her time as a member of the Raleigh Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities. She has also been an internship supervisor for students on the Autism Spectrum through UNC TEACCH. Tara has a special place in her heart for children in foster care and spent more than 6 years serving as a Guardian ad Litem.

Tara holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from NC State, where she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She holds a Master of Public Administration from East Carolina University. She is the proud mother of two boys who attend WCPSS schools and who have a shared love of animal encounters at zoos and aquariums across the state. She works hard to ensure they know that anything is possible if a person believes.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Committed to Equity and Trust
• Committed to Students, Educators, and Stakeholders
• Committed to Community

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Tara is committed to applying an equity lens to the decision-making processes. In that effort, it is important to her to ask some critical questions that might include:

• Are the right people at the table to make the decision?
• What are the potential impacts on those who are historically underrepresented?
• Does the decision have the potential to ignore or increase existing disparities or produce other unintended consequences?
• How will evaluation and monitoring be implemented to ensure equity?

By asking these and similar questions, she believes elected officials can help ensure policies and procedures with everyone in mind are implemented. While no decision will fully satisfy all groups, as an equity lens is applied, Tara hopes to address issues that impede progress for our most vulnerable communities and thereby strengthen the district as a whole.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my parents. They have been married for 49 years and moved us to North Carolina in 1989 to help us have a better life. My parents have strong faith and an incredible work ethic. They have always supported and encouraged me.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I was raised with a very strong work ethic and value performance and excellence in representing my community on the Board of Education.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of servant leadership. It is important for me to be involved and engaged in the work of advocating for public schools with a grassroots approach.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I spent my early years in Central Florida and remember the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. I was about 8 years old at the time.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

When I was a high school student, I was hired to work at Springmoor Retirement Community in food services. I assisted residents with their dining needs. I worked there for approximately two years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Many years ago, my pastor helped me to develop the habit of reading through the Bible annually. I enjoy it because it shows me the importance of servant leadership and teaches me how my own imperfections can be used to show compassion and concern for others.

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.

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