Wake County commissioners chairman withdraws from 2020 election
Wake County Commissioner Chair Greg Ford is withdrawing from the 2020 election to move across the country.
He emailed his supporters just before 6 p.m. Friday.
His husband leads a nonprofit professional association and education foundation in California and, while the work has been remote, they’ve learned the “family’s eventual relocation to California in the coming years would need to be accelerated.”
“We currently don’t have a set timeline for moving out-of-state, but I am confident that our relocation will occur sometime within the next year,” Ford said in the email. “Knowing this, I cannot in good conscience continue my campaign to seek a third term on the Wake County Board of Commissioners. In order to avoid the likely possibility of needing to resign mid-term — while also sparing the Board of Commissioners any disruptions in their important work — I believe it is in the best interest of Wake County and the Board that I immediately withdraw as the 2020 Democratic nominee for the District 6 seat.”
The Wake County Democratic Party will select a new nominee for the District 6 seat, which covers the northern part of the county, according to his email. The replacement will ideally be named within two weeks to give the Wake County Board of Elections office enough time to print the ballots, said Wake County Elections Director Gary Sims.
Ford plans to continue in his role as commissioner and chair of the board through his current term, which expires in December.
“It continues to be my tremendous honor serving my fellow residents of Wake County these past 24 years - first as a classroom teacher and school administrator, and more recently as an elected representative on the Board of Commissioners of North Carolina’s Capital County,” Ford said in the email.
Republican Karen Weathers will face the Democratic nominee this fall. Candidates must live within the district but they are voted on by the entire county.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 6:03 PM.
