Primary elections were held across various parts of the country May 17, with LGBTQ candidates vying for seats in state and local races. In Charlotte the LGBTQ community fared relatively well, with three out of four of the candidates who ran identifying as part of the community capturing nominations and preparing to move forward.
In the tight, multi-candidate city council at-large race, of the four candidates from the Democratic party chosen to run in the election, coming in at third place with 37,120 votes, former city council member for District Two, LaWana Mayfield. Mayfield captured a respectable 18 percent of the vote, while her other winning competitors captured 21 percent (Braxton Winston), 19 percent (Dimple Ajmera)Â and 16 percent (James Mitchell).
Of the four Republicans vying for city council at-large seats, Kyle Luebke will be competing in the upcoming election. He came in at fourth place, capturing 16,076 votes and 20 percent of the total number of individuals who voted.
In District 1, topping out the race to capture the Democratic nomination was Dante Anderson with 4,047 votes. Billy Maddalon, another member of the LGBT community vying for the seat, did not win the nomination and came in third place with 2699 votes.
Competing in the Charlotte City Council District 2 race from the LGBTQ community was Kendrick Cunningham. He captured 18 percent of votes cast (1,662), but lost the opportunity to run for the one available seat in District 2 to Malcolm Graham, who captured the nomination with a whopping 72 percent.
Among the four other districts in Charlotte there were no other competing LGBTQ candidates.
On the federal level in North Carolina, Jasmine Beach-Ferrera, a currently serving Buncombe County Commissioner, captured the Democratic nomination for the 11th Congressional District. Beach-Ferrara was expected to go head-to-head against Madison Cathorn (who lost the nmination, but will instead will run against Republican primary winner and State Senator Chuck Edwards. Beach-Ferrara won the primary with 60.54 percent of the vote, substantially ahead of multiple challengers by40 percent and more.
Singer, North Carolina native and former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken, who has attempted political runs for office twice, had hopes for winning the US House District Four nomination, which includes the Durham area. State Senator Valerie Foushee instead captured the nomination, while Aiken came in third.