Early voting for the Tuesday, July 26, 2022 City Council election opens Thursday, July 7 at seven early voting locations in Greensboro.
(More information on early voting can be viewed here: https://www.rhinotimes.com/news/early-voting)
This is the delayed and postponed City Council election that was originally scheduled for Nov. 2, 2021. The terms of the current members of the City Council have been extended until after the July 26 election results are certified.
The voter turnout for this unique mid-summer City Council election is predicted to be extremely low – in the 5 percent to 10 percent range – although some have said the turnout could be as low as 4 percent.
At the top of the ballot is the mayor’s race with three-term Mayor Nancy Vaughan facing two-term District 3 City Councilmember Justin Outling. It has been a long race for these candidates. Outling declared his candidacy in December 2020. Vaughan waited until February 2021 to officially announce she was running for reelection.
The mayor’s race got a new twist when Chris Meadows announced at the Guilford County Republican Party meeting on June 13 that he was running a write-in campaign for mayor. Meadows is running campaign advertising and, just like the candidates on the ballot, Meadows was seen handing out flyers at Fourth of July events.
Paper ballots have made voting for write-in candidates easier. Voters already have a pen in their hands. However, Meadows is still facing a huge uphill battle against two candidates whose names are on the ballot and have been campaigning for over a year.
Even in normal years, the At-large City Council race has confused voters. There are six names on the ballot: City Councilmembers Yvonne Johnson, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Hugh Holston and Tracy Furman, Katie Rossabi and Linda Wilson.
The top three finishers win seats on the City Council.
Holston was appointed to the City Council in September, so despite being an incumbent this is Holston’s first race. In the May 17 primary, Holston finished fourth behind Johnson, Abuzuaiter and Furman.
Although City Council races are nonpartisan, it is well known that Rossabi is the only Republican in the at-large race.
As well as having the opportunity to vote for mayor and three at-large City Council candidates, voters also have the opportunity to vote in the district City Council race for their district.
In District 1, the candidates on the ballot are City Councilmember Sharon Hightower and Felton Foushee.
In District 2, the candidates are City Councilmember Goldie Wells and Cecile (CC) Crawford.
In District 3, there is only one candidate on the ballot – former District 3 Councilmember Zack Matheny. His opponent, Chip Roth, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
In District 4, the candidates are City Councilmember Nancy Hoffmann and Thurston Reeder.
In District 5, the candidates are City Councilmember Tammi Thurm and former District 5 Councilmember Tony Wilkins. This is a rerun of the 2017 race when Wilkins was the councilmember and Thurm was the challenger.
VOTE!
A low turnout means your vote counts more. You snooze, you looze.
Write-in is a fools errand; it only serves to dilute the votes and in this case would probably result in a Vaughan win.
Chris Meadows must be in stealth mode; haven’t seen any evidence of his campaigning.
Robo calls, maybe? Get out the Republican vote? Have faith and vote for write-in candidate, Chris Meadows. I am guessing that the voters who have stayed home in the past are Republicans and Independents. They have an opportunity to make a difference by coming to the poles and voting for Chris Meadows. You, too.
Who counts the votes is all that matters, and there are no Conservatives involved with that, check the Board of Elections participants. Notice I didn’t say republicans, as there is no difference with democrats here. Sad, I’ve lived here since 1967 and have seen the decline of the community.
Now is our chance to rid the mistrust, non-caring, non- accountability from our current city council to the citizens of Greensboro. They do not support our police department yet provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to friends and other council without explanation, accountability or reasonable explanation to the citizens of Greensboro.
Voting doesn’t work.
Guillotines do.