From mayors to council members

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Tags:

local/state

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The race results are in from Tuesday's election.

While Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker earned another term last month, a number of mayoral races played out across the area Tuesday night.

In Durham, incumbent Mayor Bill Bell won for a fifth term. He took office in 2001. Now, Bell will serve for another two years at least.

He cruised to victory Tuesday at the polls, topping challenger Steven Williams with 78 percent of the vote.

"I hope that we spend a lot more time looking at redeveloping our inner city neighborhoods," Bell said. "I think we've made the right start. We've identified three neighborhoods to focus on. But I think in the next two years we ought to make substantial progress. "

In Cumberland County, Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne also ran for re-election and will serve for a third term.

Chavonne finished with 67 percent of the vote over challenger and retired soldier Bob White who had 33 percent.

"Thankfully, we're in a situation not many cities are in," Chavonne said. "We know we have a lot of growth coming and that will bring challenges with it. But I'm prepared and we're prepared. I'd rather be right here in Fayetteville, North Carolina than any other city in the country."

While both Durham and Fayetteville had incumbents on the ballot, Chapel Hill elected a new mayor as three candidates faced off.

The race came down to the wire between Matt Czajkowski and Mark Kleinschmidt, with Augustus Cho trailing them.

In the end, Kleinschmidt won the race with only a few votes over Czajkowski.

"There are going to help us define these areas in town that we believe are most sensitive," Kleinschmidt said. "We're large scale, highly-dense projects are inappropriate. We're going to have decisons where they aren't and where conversley they should be."

Durham, Cumberland and Orange counties were not the only counties to hold elections Tuesday. For a complete list of results click here .

Meanwhile, the election also left its mark on a growing Wake County town.

Three people won town council seats in Apex Tuesday -Lance Olive, Mike Jones and Gene Schulze.

However, the big question is will they support a proposed mega development called Veridea.

The 1,000 acre plan includes 8,000 homes, bordered by US 1 and Hwy 55, and would bring 20,000 new residents into the town.

Apex's town manager says it would be the biggest development of its kind in the country.

None of the candidates have said where they would likely come down, but they have all said they are concerned about losing the small town's quaint feel.