Orange, Durham election recount confirms outcome of Chapel Hill Town Council vote
This story was updated at 10 p.m. Nov. 21, 2019.
A recount Thursday in Orange and Durham counties confirmed UNC senior Tai Huynh will take a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council in December.
Huynh finished ahead of his closest competitor, council incumbent Nancy Oates, according to the two counties’ boards of elections. Oates will leave the board in December after serving one four-year term.
The other top vote-getters in the race for four council seats were incumbents Jessica Anderson and Michael Parker, and newcomer Amy Ryan.
The Durham County votes — two precincts are located within Chapel Hill’s town limits — were key to Huynh’s 24-vote lead over Oates in certified election results released Nov. 14. In Orange County alone, Huynh only had a two-vote lead.
Oates asked for a recount on Nov. 15 after the certified election results showed a less than 1% difference between the candidates.
The final count Thursday was 3,935 votes for Oates and 3,959 votes for Huynh, making him the first Vietnamese person elected to office in North Carolina. He and other council members will take their seats at a Dec. 4 organizational meeting.
After the Nov. 5 election, Oates said the outcome “really surprised me” but that pending work deadlines left her little time to think about it. As one who regularly questions developers and at times casts a lone vote against the majority, Oates said she has brought an underrepresented voice to the council.
“Let’s see what happens when all the votes are counted,” she said then, noting that challenger Sue Hunter was just 10 votes behind her.
Huynh, when reached by phone after the election, said he was focused on going to class and talking with supporters calling to wish him well.
The election continues to be a learning experience, the first-time candidate said, but he and his supporters “are excited and optimistic.”
“I feel hopeful that our lead will hold, and we’ll see how it goes and how things shake out,” Huynh said.
Carrboro
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle, who was unopposed, won a fourth term with 96% of the vote. There were 133 write-in votes for mayor.
Challenger Susan Romaine led the field of five candidates for Board of Aldermen. Romaine won 29.8% of the vote, followed by Aldermen Damon Seils and Sammy Slade, with 28.4% and 24% respectively. They will fill the three open board seats.
Challengers Steve Friedman and Matthew Clements trailed the top vote-getters. Challenger Matt Neal, who dropped out of the race in October, received 233 votes.
“My goal was somehow to get into the top three, and to tell you the truth, I was shocked and very humbled by the news,” Romaine said.
As a board member, she said her priority will be bringing more businesses, living-wage jobs and commercial tax revenues to the town. She will be looking for solutions that are simple, practical and affordable, she said.
“I worry about (diversity) maybe the most of all,” Romaine said. “Being at the polls over the last couple of weeks, you just have no idea how many people I talked to who told me, ‘I have lived in Carrboro for 15, 20 years, and I’m having to make this decision about whether I need to move, and I don’t want to move — I love this town — but I just can’t afford to live here anymore.’”
Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board
Incumbent school board member Rani Dasi led the race for four board seats. She garnered 23.6% of the vote with all 29 precincts reporting. Dasi will be joined on the board by challengers Jillian La Serna, with 22.3% of the vote; Deon Temne, with 17.5%; and Ashton Powell, who got 13.7%. They will serve a four-year term on the board.
Former school board member Andrew Davidson, who got 11% of the vote, rounded out the field. Two candidates who had withdrawn from the race after the ballots were printed — Carmen Heurta-Bapat and Louis Tortora — garnered just over 3,700 votes.
School board members Pat Heinrich, Jean Hamilton and James Barrett chose not to run this year. Barrett has launched a campaign for N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction.,
Hillsborough
Hillsborough voters elected a new mayor Tuesday and returned three incumbents to the town’s Board of Commissioners.
Town Board member Jennifer Weaver ran unopposed to replace Mayor Tom Stevens, who is stepping down after 14 years. She won 96% of the vote.
Incumbent member Matt Hughes led the Town Board race with 30% of the vote, followed by board members Mark Bell and Evelyn Lloyd, each of whom got 28% of the vote. Challenger Kevin Mason fell short of securing a seat with just 12% of the vote.
The town has solicited applications from residents seeking to fill Weaver’s unexpired term on the board. If the board elects a new member Nov. 25, the person will be sworn in for a two-year term on Dec. 9, when Weaver becomes mayor.
This story was originally published November 6, 2019 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Orange, Durham election recount confirms outcome of Chapel Hill Town Council vote."
