GOVERNMENT; ELECTIONS 2023
by Michelle Cassell
Managing Editor
Jessica Anderson is the Chapel Hill Mayor-elect, defeating Adam Searing with 59 percent of the vote.
If you ever think your individual vote doesn’t count, consider the Chapel Hill Town Council race. As of today, the results show two candidates that are 14 votes apart. According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Renuka Soll and Elizabeth Sharp have only 14 votes separating them. Interestingly, the results posted on the Board of Elections website (which are still unofficial as of this time) show Soll ahead. When TLR reached out to Soll, she said she “has lost” and expects that to hold when absentee ballots are tallied.
Other results from yesterday’s election were not as close. In the Chapel Hill mayor’s race, Jessica Anderson defeated Adam Searing with 59 percent of the vote. Anderson defeated Searing in all precincts except Eastside, where Searing collected eight votes more than Anderson. Anderson will succeed Mayor Hemminger, who decided not to seek a fifth term. Both candidates have served on the Town Council.
Searing shared his newsletter with TLR this morning with a way to move ahead from his defeat.
“I will remain on the Council to finish the last two years of my term. I congratulate Jess Anderson on her win for Mayor along with Amy Ryan, Melissa McCullough and Theodore Nollert on their wins of Council seats,” Searing said.
Four seats were available in the race for Chapel Hill Town Council. Melissa McCullough, Amy Ryan, and Theodore Nollert will occupy three of the seats. As discussed above, Renuka Soll or Elizabeth Sharp will occupy the fourth seat. Both Soll and Sharp campaigned with Adam Searing.
In the Town of Carrboro, Barbara Foushee was elected Mayor. Foushee ran unopposed after Mayor Damon Seils decided not to run. Foushee will be the first Black woman mayor in the town’s history. She was elected to the Carrboro Town Council in 2017.
For Carrboro City Council, three seats were available. The winning candidates are Catherine Fray, Eliazar Posada, and Jason Merrill. According to the State Board of Elections, the three candidates won all eight precincts.
This story will be updated when the election results become official.
Michelle Cassell is a seasoned reporter who has covered everything from crime to hurricanes and local politics to human interest over the course of 35 years. As managing editor, she hopes to encourage writers of a wide range of backgrounds and interests in TLR’s coverage of Southern Orange County news.
You are looking at the wrong resource. Two of the 18 precincts in Chapel Hill are located in Durham County;. You are looking at the NCSBE elections results page which only shows votes collected in Orange County, and Soll did indeed receive more votes than Sharp in Orange County. However, if you select the statewide geography and then “cross-county local” races, you will see the full unofficial results, including the votes that Sharp and Soll secured in Durham County.