Two former candidates for Raleigh mayor file for City Council seats
Two former mayoral candidates are among those running for Raleigh City Council, including one who served 30 years ago.
Anne Franklin, who ran for mayor in 1993, and Zainab Baloch, who ran for mayor in 2019, both filed for seats on the Raleigh City Council Friday.
Franklin, who served on the council from 1987 to 1993, came in third place in the mayoral race won by Tom Fetzer. She has filed for one of the council’s two at-large seats. Incumbent Jonathan Melton has filed for re-election, while incumbent Nicole Stewart announced she wouldn’t seek another term.
“We’re going to have some new council people, and I think maybe I can help jump start some of the work ahead because I have been there,” Franklin said.
“I’ve had good relationships with staff. I’ve worked with a variety of elected people and and institutions in the community,” she said. “And so while I’ll still have a lot to learn, I like to help other people learn as we go. And I just I feel that some confidence has been lost in the local government at the moment, and I’m not willing to let that stand.”
Baloch, an activist and community organizer, ran for an at-large seat in 2017 and for mayor in 2019, when she finished fourth. Now she’s seeking the District B seat, which makes up northeast Raleigh. Incumbent David Cox is not seeking another term.
She’s running for District B because it’s the area she grew up in and moved back at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think one of the biggest issues not being addressed is the number of people who are poor are rising and we are doing nothing as a city,” Baloch said.
All eight seats on the Raleigh City Council, including the mayor’s, are up for re-election, with Cox, Stewart and Council member Patrick Buffkin all deciding against seeking re-election.
The filing period ends at noon July 15.
