FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — The results are in for the Fayetteville mayoral primary – with 10 candidates vying for the office – and three of them giving up their current city council seats to do so.
It’s now down to just two.
It was a highly anticipated primary with so many familiar faces joining the group of 10 people hoping to become the next mayor of Fayetteville.
Incumbent mayor Mitch Colvin easily sailed through Tuesday night’s primary; he received more than two and a half times as many votes as his closest competition, Kathy Keefe Jensen, who will officially be his only challenger in the November election.
MAYORAL RESULTS
Jensen is the mayor pro tem and represents District 1 right now. She gave up her seat to try to win the mayoral office.
Current city council member Mario Benavente came up short, finishing third, and winning about half as many votes as Jensen. He will not serve on the city council next year as he gave up his council seat in District 3 to run for mayor.
As a reminder, Colvin had announced earlier this year that he did not plan to seek reelection but reversed course just before the deadline came up after current city council members, including Jensen, Benavente, and Courtney Banks-McLoughlin, all gave up their current positions to run for mayor.
With such a crowded mayoral race, there were some questions about turnout. Looking at voter turnout numbers from the past 10 years, this is the highest voter turnout in the last decade for a primary in Fayetteville.
A little more than 10% of voters – about 14,000 people showed up to cast their ballots. That’s about 3,500 more than the last primary.
CITY COUNCIL RESULTS
Who was on the ballot?
Fayetteville Mayor
- Courtney Banks-McLaughlin
Fayetteville City Council District 1
Fayetteville City Council District 2
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Fayetteville City Council District 3
Fayetteville City Council District 4
Fayetteville City Council District 5
Fayetteville City Council District 6
Fayetteville City Council District 7
Fayetteville City Council District 8
- Mahmoud A. (Travis) Hamed
Fayetteville City Council District 9
SEE ALSO: Advocacy groups engage in outreach during National Voter Registration Day
Early voting for Fayetteville Primary Election will begin September 18 and runs through October 4.
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Sydnee Scofield
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