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Zainab Baloch
Zainab Baloch ran for election to the Raleigh City Council to represent District B in North Carolina. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Zainab Baloch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and lives in Raleigh. She earned a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018.[1] Baloch's career experience includes working in the technology industry.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: City elections in Raleigh, North Carolina (2022)
General election
General election for Raleigh City Council District B
Megan Patton defeated Minu Lee, Frank Pierce, Zainab Baloch, and Jakob Lorberblatt in the general election for Raleigh City Council District B on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Megan Patton (Nonpartisan)  | 41.6 | 11,003 |
 | Minu Lee (Nonpartisan) | 30.8 | 8,139 | |
 | Frank Pierce (Nonpartisan) | 15.3 | 4,044 | |
 | Zainab Baloch (Nonpartisan) | 7.3 | 1,925 | |
| Jakob Lorberblatt (Nonpartisan) | 4.0 | 1,054 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.0 | 264 | ||
| Total votes: 26,429 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2019
See also: Mayoral election in Raleigh, North Carolina (2019)
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. | ||||
2017
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, held municipal elections for mayor and city council on October 10, 2017. A runoff took place on November 7, 2017, in those races where no candidate received a majority of the vote. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 21, 2017. All seven council seats were up for election.
Russ Stephenson received a majority of the vote and was re-elected. While Nicole Stewart did not receive a majority, Stacy Miller declined to ask for a runoff.[3][4]
| Raleigh City Council, At-large Municipal Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Russ Stephenson Incumbent |
28.26% | 26,680 |
| Nicole Stewart |
23.00% | 21,714 |
| Stacy Miller | 16.55% | 15,623 |
| Shelia Alamin-Khashoggi | 11.46% | 10,822 |
| Zainab Baloch | 11.02% | 10,406 |
| Robert Ward | 7.52% | 7,104 |
| Rob Axtell | 1.99% | 1,878 |
| Write-in votes | 0.2% | 193 |
| Total Votes | 94,420 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "10/10/2017 Unofficial Municipal Election Results - Wake," accessed October 10, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Zainab Baloch did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Zainab Baloch did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Baloch's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Security Every person deserves access to life's basic essentials: Food, shelter, and safe communities in which they can thrive.
The most fundamental aspect of well-being is physical and emotional security. Do we have enough food and water? A warm, dry place to sleep? The tools to grow as human beings and know our loved ones are safe? Too often in Raleigh, the answer to one or more of these questions is “No.” It is our duty as a city to take care of the basic needs of all residents..
Safety goes beyond everyday crime; it also means safety from bigotry, the growing recent phenomena of hate crimes and terrorizing ICE raids. Raleigh needs to make safety for all identity groups, including our LGBTQia+ communities and our POC, a priority, so that all residents feel taken care of.
Our campaign takes it for granted that our criminal justice system at every step is inherently biased against Black citizens and other citizens of color. These biases occur in police profiling of suspects, civilian interactions, arrests, prosecutions, sentencing, and incarceration. We know the problem, but fixing it means tough choices. Mobility Every person deserves access to transportation, meaningful jobs, and personal growth to move freely into their future Right to economic mobility
Infrastructure is the backbone of a healthy economy. It powers businesses, connects workers to their jobs, creates opportunities for struggling communities and protects the nation from an increasingly unpredictable environment. Affordable transportation is an important aspect of Raleigh’s economic and social well-being. It means the low-income earner can still access healthcare, household goods, education, work and social activities. Unaffordable transport denies vulnerable groups these opportunities and intensifies poverty. Infrastructure involves more than just transport, encompassing roads, water/sewage, energy, and internet.
Beyond needing to earn a decent wage, there are other quality of life factors such as availability of fulfilling jobs and commute times. It is not enough to just be working; to realize one’s human potential you need to be working at a career that will engage your passion and push you to grow. A prerequisite to this is feeling safe and fairly treated in your workplace. Happiness Every person deserves a government that removes barriers from pursuing a high quality of life -- providing resources, a clean environment, and equitable representation.
Water is a fundamental human need while electricity is a basis of modern civilization; both are a requirement for happiness in the community. If residents cannot easily access clean drinking water or cheap electricity, then they are being unjustly marginalized from participating in city life.
In a recent poll, affordable housing was the number one concern among potential Raleigh voters, so it makes sense that it is one of the top issues that every single candidate discusses. Most candidates, however, merely advocate more of the same: tax credits, minor zoning fixes, and “working with developers.” While these solutions can be marginally helpful, they are not going to provide the dramatic fix we need. For that, we need to think outside the box and explore solutions that only the boldest municipalities are pursuing. Raleigh can be innovative, even a national leader, if only we have the vision first.
One of the biggest obstacles to improved city government is resident apathy. Career politicians and other stakeholders have a vested interest in the general populace remaining unengaged and unaware, and we need to change that. An unengaged populace allows people with disproportionate wealth to continue to game the political system to their advantage, meanwhile neglecting real, urgent community needs. Improving matters will require the city government to demonstrate good faith and good will toward the community with concrete steps and actions.[5] |
” |
| —Zainab Baloch’s campaign website (2019)[6] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Breaking News House, "NEWSMuslim Woman Runs For Mayor Of Raleigh, North Carolina," accessed August 26, 2019
- ↑ Zainab for Raleigh, "About," accessed August 26, 2019
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "10/10/2017 Unofficial Municipal Election Results - Wake," accessed October 10, 2017
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Longtime Raleigh City Council member Bonner Gaylord won’t call for a runoff election," October 12, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Zainab Baloch’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed August 25, 2019
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