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Democrats sweep Mecklenburg County commission races again

Mecklenburg Government Center
Nick de la Canal
/
WFAE

Democrats kept all nine seats on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, holding off Republicans who hoped to gain a seat for the first time since 2018.

Republicans thought they could possibly ride a red wave to flip one or two seats and regain a spot at the dais.

Perhaps their best chance was the south Charlotte District 5 race between Democratic incumbent Laura Meier and Republican Matthew Ridenhour. He formerly represented the district.

But Meier won relatively easy, with more than 52 percent of the vote. She nationalized the race, highlighting that Ridenhour was against abortion rights.

After the race, Meier said she's ready to listen to her constituents.

"I’m listening, is all I have to say," she said. "I want to know what the voters think. I want to know what they want to see and hear and do. I’m ready."

All other district incumbents won their races. At-large incumbents Pat Cotham and Leigh Altman won re-election. They're joined by Arthur Griffin, a former member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

Steve Harrison is WFAE's politics and government reporter. Prior to joining WFAE, Steve worked at the Charlotte Observer, where he started on the business desk, then covered politics extensively as the Observer’s lead city government reporter. Steve also spent 10 years with the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.