Here are the 2026 candidates for Wake County commissioner, sheriff, DA and more
Wake County’s elected leaders are set to gain two new faces this coming election season.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners will grow from seven to nine members in 2026, adding two at-large seats to its seven district seats.
Candidates have been required to live within the district they represented, even though they have been voted on county-wide.
State Rep. Erin Paré forced the county to change how it elects commissioners, adding the two at-large seats and requiring that district candidates be elected only by voters in their district.
“Wake County is now larger than eight states with a population of nearly 1.2 million people,” Paré said at the time. “Fifty-five percent of the electorate resides in Raleigh and Cary. The purpose of these changes is to strengthen representation on the board for the more suburban and rural communities around the county.”
Filing for local, state and federal races ended Friday, Dec. 19. The primary is March 3, and the general election is Nov. 3. Unlike the Raleigh City Council races also being decided next year, the county races are partisan, with the top finishers in each party’s primary moving on to the general election.
A list of candidates running for state offices can be found at wake.gov/elections.
Here are the candidates who have filed.
Wake County Commissioner At-Large (2 seats)
- Steve Rao, Democrat, steveraoforwake.com
- Christine Kushner, Democrat, christineforwake.com
- Robert Mitchener, Jr., Democrat,
- Mona Singh, Democrat, monaforwake.com
- Jonathan Lambert-Melton, Democrat, jonathanmelton.com
- Kimberly McGhee, Democrat,
- Marguerite Creel, Democrat,
- Gary Dale Hartong, Republican, garyforwake.org
- Kyle Stogoski, Republican
Wake County Commissioner District 1
- Don Mial, incumbent, Democrat, donmial.com
Wake County Commissioner District 2
- John Adcock, Republican, facebook.com/voteadock
- Safiyah Jackson, incumbent, Democrat, teamjacksonfornc.com
Wake County Commissioner District 3
- Cheryl Stallings, incumbent, Democrat, cheryl4wake.org
Wake County Commissioner District 7
- Vickie Adamson, incumbent, Democrat, vickieforwakecounty.com
Wake County District Attorney
Incumbent Lorrin Freeman is not seeing re-election.
- Melanie Shekita, Democrat, shekitaforwake.com
- Sherita Walton, Democrat, waltonforwake.com
- Wiley Nickel, Democrat, wileynickel.com
Wake County Sheriff
- Willie Rowe, incumbent, Democrat
- Kenny Blackwell, Republican
Wake County Clerk of Superior Court
- Claudia Croom, incumbent, Democrat,
- Joe E. Teague Jr., Republican
NC Superior Court Judge District 10B Seat 01
- Vince Rozier Jr., incumbent, Democrat
NC Superior Court Judge District 10D Seat 01
- Keith Gregory, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10A Seat 01
- Rashad Ahmed Hauter, incumbent, Republican
- Daniel Wright, Republican
NC District Court Judge District 10B Seat 01
- David Baker, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10D Seat 01
- Margaret Eagles, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10D Seat 02
- Brian Ratledge, incumbent, Republican, judgebrianratledge.com
- Amalia Mercedes Restucha, Democrat, electmercedes.com
NC District Court Judge District 10D Seat 03
- Kevin Boxberger, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10E Seat 01
- Sam Hamadani, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10E Seat 02
- Louis Meyer, incumbent, Democrat
NC District Court Judge District 10F Seat 01
- Chris Brooks, incumbent, Democrat
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Here are the 2026 candidates for Wake County commissioner, sheriff, DA and more."
