CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gay and LGBT-friendly candidates in local races across the state will face voters in elections today.
In Charlotte, voters head to the polls to choose a new mayor, city council and school board members. City Councilmember LaWana Mayfield (D-Dist. 3), the city’s first openly gay or lesbian council member, is up for re-election.
Endorsements in Charlotte races were made by the local Mecklenburg LGBT Political Action Committee (MeckPAC). You can view their endorsements here. In the mayoral race, the group endorsed neither Democrat Patrick Cannon nor Republican Edwin Peacock III. This newspaper made the same decision in its mayoral endorsement. You can view interviews with Charlotte’s mayoral candidates and the newspaper’s endorsement here.
In Carrboro, lesbian town council member Lydia Lavelle is running for mayor, without opposition on the ballot. In nearby Chapel Hill, incumbent Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, who is gay, is running for re-election. He, too, faces no opposition on the ballot, though some Chapel Hill residents have mounted write-in campaigns.
Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and remain open through 7:30 p.m. You can check your voter registration and learn more about your polling location via the North Carolina State Board of Elections website. Photo identification is not required to vote in this year’s election.
You can follow news and updates from election results this evening at goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com/in/election-2013/ and via Twitter @qnotescarolinas