The lineups for November 2025 municipal races are now set. During Thursday, the last full day of filing for 2025 municipal elections, mayoral races in Burlington, Graham, and Gibsonville became more lively and competitive. And there was little activity on Friday morning, the last day of the filing period.
Two town council candidates in Haw River and two others in Ossipee face no opposition; nor do two board of aldermen candidates in Gibsonville. Meanwhile, mayors in Elon and the Village of Alamance filed for reelection and face no opposition.
Burlington
In Burlington Beth Kennett, who was narrowly defeated by 200 votes by incumbent mayor Jim Butler in 2023, filed Thursday to make another run at the position. She will face former mayor and current city councilman Ronnie Wall.
Also in Burlington, there’s a full slate of four candidates for city council.
Former mayor Ian Baltutis filed for a city council seat. Mayor Jim Butler, who ousted Baltutis four years ago, is not seeking reelection. And Donna M. Vanhook, who ran for Burlington mayor in 2021 and as a Democrat for state senate in 2024, has filed for a seat on the Burlington city council.
Also filing this week for a city council seat is former Burlington police chief Jeffrey Smythe, who stepped down from his post after eight years in the job in 2021. He is now the director of the N.C. Criminal Justice Standards Division in Raleigh.
Burlington city councilman Harold Owen filed for reelection on the last day of the filing period.
Graham
In Graham, Chelsea Glen Dickey filed Thursday to challenge incumbent mayor Jennifer Talley for the mayor’s seat.
There is also a competitive race for city council. City councilman Bobby Chin filed for a second, four-year term on the city council. Also filing earlier were Randy Phillips, a retired emergency services worker, and Jim Young, a member of the city’s planning board and a former mayoral candidate in 2017. Meanwhile, Daniel Alvis filed on Friday morning for city council. The second incumbent Graham councilman, Joey Parsons, has indicated he would not seek reelection inasmuch as he is anticipating a move outside the city.
Gibsonville
And in Gibsonville, incumbent alderman Bryant Crisp has filed for the two years remaining on the term of former mayor Lenny Williams, who stepped down in January. Crisp will face Darian Smith, who filed earlier.
Also in Gibsonville, incumbent alderman Paul Dean has filed for reelection; newcomer Byron Bellman has also filed for one of two available seats on the board of aldermen.
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Mebane
Another area which will apparently have some lively competition is in Mebane. Incumbent Mebane council members Tim Bradley, who’s currently serving as the mayor pro tem, Montrena Hadley, and Jonathan White have filed for reelection.
Meanwhile, two challengers filed to run. Blair Helms and Rick Thomas also filed for the three available city council seats. Meanwhile, Kurt Pearson who had announced last week his intention to run for a seat on the Mebane city council did not actually file.
In a statement to the newspaper, Pearson said, “After praying and agonizing over the decision for several days, it became increasingly clear that it wasn’t the right choice at this time. There are other ‘higher calling’ responsibilities and projects I want and need to put more effort into over the coming months.”
Pearson, who has advocated for “slower, smarter” growth in the city, made a plea to “eventual council members” to “work harder and smarter for slower and better growth in the future.”
Elon
In Elon, non-incumbent Steve Exum filed for a seat on the town council. Two council seats are on the ballot this year, those of Randy Orwig and Stephanie Bourland, although Bourland had indicated she didn’t intend to seek reelection. Orwig filed last Thursday, as did another newcomer for the Elon town council, Michael Ratigan.
Elon’s incumbent mayor Emily Sharpe also filed last week.
Haw River
In Haw River, there ended up being no competitive race for town council. Incumbent councilman Shawn Riggan filed for reelection to the city council; also filing for one of two open seats on the town council is Debbie A. Brown. One Haw River council seat is vacant by virtue of the elevation of then-councilman Lee Lovette to be mayor after then-mayor Kelly Allen was appointed by the Alamance County Republican Party to serve on the county’s board of commissioners.
Other municipalities
In Swepsonville, all three incumbent council members have filed for reelection: Henry Carrouth, who currently serves as mayor, as well as incumbent councilmen John Andrews and Wilbur Suggs.
They will be joined on the ballot by non-incumbent Lee Walls, who filed last Thursday.
Patricia Jones and Jose McBroom filed for reelection to two available seats on the Green Level town council. Meanwhile, a third candidate, Lesley Sanders-Carter, has also filed for the Green Level town council, as has former councilman Theodore “Ted” Howard, who did not seek reelection when his last term expired in 2023; Howard placed fifth for the three seats with 45 write-in votes that year.
Incumbent councilmen Richard A. Overman and Jim McAdams filed for the two seats on the Ossipee town council.
Another competitive jurisdiction is the Village of Alamance, where two candidates filed Thursday, joining three others who have already filed for the three available seats on the board of aldermen. Incumbent Dale Hunt filed Thursday, joining incumbents Philip Cheap and Gayle S. Andrews, who had filed earlier.
Also filing was Shawn Francis; Ken Cass filed earlier.
Running unopposed for reelection is the village’s mayor, Don Tichy.
