District 3 City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Justin Outling both won and lost the May 17 primary.
Outling won because he finished second out of four and will face Mayor Nancy Vaughan on the ballot in the Tuesday, July 26 general election.
Outling lost because he finished a rather distant second to Vaughan, who both won the primary and a spot on the ballot for the general election.
Vaughan had 45 percent of the vote while Outling had 35 percent.
However, Outling doesn’t see it as a loss. He noted that the incumbent mayor finished with less than 50 percent of the vote which according to Outling indicates that a majority of the voters want a new mayor.
Outling said, “The majority of the city knows Nancy Vaughan and voted against Nancy Vaughan.”
Outling took exception to the Rhino Times article that noted he had only won 13 precincts, stating that the race was not about winning precincts but about winning more votes. He noted that while he didn’t win more votes than Vaughan, the three challengers – Outling, Eric Robert and Mark Cummings – together had more votes than Vaughan.
Outling said, “We will continue to share our message with those who voted against Nancy Vaughan, which is the majority of the voters in Greensboro.”
Outling said, “I have demonstrated a record of specific accomplishments that would not have happened without my leadership.”
He added, “I’m not taking credit for things for which I had no or marginal impact.”
Outling said that it was just as important to take action to make certain that businesses stay in Greensboro as it was to recruit new industry. Outling gave the example of VF moving its corporate headquarters to Denver and said that Vaughan didn’t know about the move until it was announced and that showed a “lack of leadership.”
As the precinct breakdown indicates, Vaughan defeated Outling in almost all the predominately black precincts in east Greensboro as well as most of the predominately white precincts in northwest Greensboro. The vast majority of the precincts Outling won are in City Council District 3, which he has represented since 2015.
Vote Justin Outling. Nancy Vaughn has been there too long. Councilman Outling needs the backing of Black churches.
For Vaughan it’s a bit like a British statesman said after the Battle of Guilford Counthouse. “Another such victory will ruin us”.
Bye Nancy.
Sorry it took so long. Maybe with all the favors you’ve done for them, Kennedy or Johnson will have a place for you in one of their seemingly crooked liberal organizations.
You can put a dress on a pig BUT it is still a pig. Outling is just as bad as Nancy Vaughn and the tax payers will be no better off in the end. All of the “Spend it, it’s not our money” bunch needs to go. Elect some folks with common sense and stop dumping money into the Money Pit downtown and the Money Pit on High Point Rd! Also send the City Manager Packing!
Nancy Vaughn has been good for Greensboro, but I think there were enough strong candidates that any one of them would be a good choice. Greensboro could use some new leadership and fresh new thinking. And no, Outling doesn’t need the backing of the black church any more than Vaughn did. The only way a young black man could even be considered for mayor of Greensboro is if he had the support of all its citizens. The black church has lost its relevancy with the community anyway.