Who will win the Raleigh City Council primary? Election results here.
Incumbents are leading the race to fill seats on the Raleigh City Council.
For the first time, there were up to two Raleigh City Council races before city voters during the March 3 primary, depending on where they live.
Every Raleigh voter could vote in the at-large primary election, and Raleigh residents who live in District C, or Southeast Raleigh, could also vote in District C primary.
Raleigh At-Large elections
There are two at-large seats on the Raleigh City Council, elected by the entire city compared to just a district.
There are six candidates for the two at-large seats: James Bledsoe, Joshua Bradley, incumbent Stormie Forte, Clark Rinehart, Sana Siddiqui and Cameron Zamot. The top-four vote getters will move on to the general election.
The primary will narrow the candidate field from six to four candidates for the Nov. 3 general election.
Forte and Siddiqui were the two frontrunners, with Rinehart and Bradley trailing in third and fourth place with all 111 precincts reporting shortly after 11:30 p.m. Bledsoe placed fifth, trailing Bradley by 575 votes.
“I am so grateful for everyone that believed in this campaign and showed up to support it,” said Siddiqui, watching election results with her family at home.
Affordability, affordable housing, supporting small businesses and improving city employee satisfaction and retention will be her main focuses, if elected, she said.
“One thing that I really, really care about is community engagement,” she said. “Bringing people together, more people to the table and more outreach to communities. Not just for feedback but to educate and inform them how the city works and how these decisions impact them.”
Forte acknowledged the primary was a first for Raleigh voters, and hopes it will increase voter participation.
“I know the voters wanted the opportunity for us to have primaries,” she said. “And I hope folks feel like it was beneficial for us to switch this process.”
Rinehart thanked volunteers, community members and family members who worked on his campaign and helped support his work.
“There’s a lot of work to do to catch up between now and November 3,” he said. “Tonight I’m focused on regrouping and proud to have the trust of so many Raleighites. Back to the drawing board for me.”
Jonathan Melton-Lambert isn’t seeking re-election and pursued a seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
District C
There are five district seats on the Raleigh City Council, where the candidates and voters have to live within their respective districts.
There are four candidates for the District C seat: incumbent Corey Branch, Jared Ollison, Tolulope Omokaiye and Diana Powell. The top-two vote getters will move on to the general election.
Branch and Ollison lead with all 20 precincts reporting, but Powell only trailed by 107 votes.
“I’m pleased and ready to continue to serve,” Branch said.
Ollison did not respond to The N&O.
Other Raleigh City Council elections
All eight seats are up on the Raleigh City Council, but not all the races have enough challengers to warrant a primary.
Here’s a look at the other Raleigh City Council races that will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
- Mayor: Incumbent Janet Cowell is being challenged by Ashleigh Heath Armstrong.
- District A: Incumbent Mitchell Silver is being challenged by Whitney Hill.
- District B: Incumbent Megan Patton is seeking re-election and running unopposed.
- District D: Incumbent Jane Harrison is being challenged by Jevon Smith-Cook.
- District E: Incumbent Christina Jones is being challenged by Marc Scruggs.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 9:33 PM.
