Election results: Carrboro, Hillsborough voters elect new mayors and board members

Carrboro and Hillsborough voters elected unopposed candidates for mayor and filled open board seats in Tuesday’s general election.

Barbara Foushee, a current member of the Carrboro Town Council, will replace outgoing Mayor Damon Seils in December. With all eight precincts reporting., she had 96.91% or 4,202 of the votes cast, with 134 write-in votes making up the rest.

Council candidate Catherine Fray, an accounting software consultant, led the field of five candidates for three council seats, with 27.14% or 3,570 of the votes cast.

Incumbent Eliazar Posada, a community advocate and the state’s first out LGBTQ+ Latino official, sealed a second-place finish, with 26.83% or 3,530 votes. Jason Merrill, a former bike shop owner, was in third place, with 25.92% or 3,410 votes.

Stephanie Wade and April Mills trailed the field with 10.40% (1,348) and 9.36% (1,231) of the votes cast, respectively.

The Orange County Board of Elections reported 8,684 people cast ballots in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough races during early voting.

The new Carrboro Town Council will decide how to fill Foushee’s vacant council seat next year.

Hillsborough Town Board

In Hillsborough, Town Board member Mark Bell was unopposed in his race to replace outgoing Mayor Jennifer Weaver.

With all four precincts reporting, Bell had 1,440 votes or 97.1% of the total votes cast, with write-ins making up the rest.

Hillsborough voters also elected three town Board of Commissioners members Tuesday.

Meaghun Darab finished first with 29.36% of the votes (1,240), followed by incumbent Matt Hughes with 29.10% (1,229 votes) and Evelyn Lloyd with 23.47% (991 votes).

Victoria Joy Masika trailed with 17.57% (742 votes).

The top three vote-getters will serve four years on the five-member town board.

This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 8:38 PM.