N&O endorsements: Our choices in the Raleigh City Council primaries

The Raleigh City Council primary is a March vote to create head-to-head choices in November.

After years of odd-year elections, ballots with numerous candidates for one seat, and sparsely attended run-off elections, Raleigh has moved to even-year elections to have a maximum of two candidates for each seat in November and to transition council terms from two to four years.

Those changes mean Raleigh voters in the nonpartisan March 3 primary will select four candidates from a field of six to advance to the November election. The four winners will compete for two at-large seats.

Among the council’s five district seats, only District C will need a primary election to narrow the November choice to two candidates.

City Council at-large primary

In winnowing the at-large field, voters will have a choice among an incumbent, two repeat candidates and three newcomers to city politics. Here’s who’s running:

Cameron Zamot, 28, runs a combination coffee-bike shop in Boylan Heights. Given his work, it’s natural that he supports alternative forms of moving about in the increasingly car-clogged capital city.

“If we are going to grow well, then we have to move well,” he said. “Right now, Raleigh is pretty car dependent. There’s got to be a better way to get around town.”

Zamot, a former Raleigh transit planner, supports improving the city’s bus system, expanding bike lanes and promoting developments that have walkability. More transit options would make the city more affordable, he said, because “owning a car costs a lot.”

He also wants to improve work conditions for city employees and expand the types of housing in Raleigh to create a wider range of housing prices.

Stormie Denise Forte, 55, is an attorney and an established City Council member seeking her fourth term. She said the challenges facing Raleigh are the same as those faced by cities across the nation — the high cost of housing and a homeless population that needs permanent shelter. She supports another city bond to add more affordable housing units.

Forte said the city’s ability to attract new residents and business shows it is moving in the right direction. She said Raleigh’s vibrancy has put it among the top five cities in contention to be the new home to a relocating Major League Baseball team.

Sana Siddiqui, 42, is an engineering product manager who has served on city advisory boards. Now, in her first run for office, she wants to help make the City Council better at listening to the public. “The city can do a better job of bringing residents to the table,” she said. “People are very disconnected in general.”

Siddiqui was not immediately opposed to the tall towers on Peace and West Streets and at North Hills, but she said would have wanted more information about the impact of the projects before approving them. She said she will not take campaign donations from developers.

Clark Rinehart, 39, is a self-employed manager of collaborative spaces. He said the council “is doing a good job overall” and he agrees with its approval of the two controversial tower projects. He wants the city to preserve its character. “I don’t want to lose that,” he said, “but we do need to grow.”

Rinehart, who has a master’s from Duke Divinity School, said churches can play a role in creating more affordable housing by turning over some of their parking lots for low-cost housing development. He calls the idea “Yes in God’s backyard.”

A regular bike and bus rider, Rinehart wants the city to provide more bike lanes and better bus service.

James Bledsoe, a 39-year-old IT manager, is making his fifth run for City Council. His best finish was in 2024, when he came in third out of seven candidates seeking an at-large seat. “We’re getting there,” he said.

A U.S. Army veteran, Bledsoe wants to increase pay for Raleigh’s police and firefighters and to expand property tax relief for disabled veterans. He said he would seek to eliminate waste in city government, lower taxes and reduce regulations that add cost to housing construction.

Joshua Bradley, 51, is making his third attempt to win a council seat. A self-described socialist, Bradley said campaigning allows him to explain to people how much can be accomplished “if we just take the profit motive out.” He said, “Cities were not meant to be run like businesses.”

Bradley wants the city to build affordable housing on its own. “Developers aren’t going to build housing that is affordable to the people that work here,” he said. The city, he said, “should act as a developer itself and build with its own money on its own land.”

Bradley said the new Bus Rapid Transit line on New Bern Avenue and the city’s development of Dix Park are accelerating gentrification. He said the city should focus on paying city workers more “so they can afford to live and thrive in the city.”

This primary, fortunately, will have four winners. We welcome the fresh thinking of new candidates Cameron Zamot and Clark Rinehart, but experience with city affairs also matters. We recommend Stormie Denise Forte and Sana Siddiqui.

Raleigh City Council District 3

Corey Branch is well established in this Southeast Raleigh district as he seeks his sixth term on the City Council, but he keeps drawing primary opponents.

Branch, 48, an IT engineer, is accustomed to challengers but confident about his support, even as growth is driving up property values — and taxes — in his district near downtown.

“District C is changing. I change with it,” he said. “I was born and raised in the district. I meet people where they are.”

Branch thinks things are going well on the council and for the city. He notes that the Bus Rapid Transit line is coming, and it’s attracting new housing along the route; rents are beginning to stabilize; crime is down, and the city passed a budget with no tax increase.

Still, Branch has drawn three challengers, though one of them, Tolulope Omokaiye, has suspended her campaign.

Jared S. Ollison, 50, a State Capitol Police officer, said District C is losing longtime residents and homes to gentrification and rising taxes. He supports property tax relief and more housing “working-class people can afford.”

Diana Angie Powell, 62, is a longtime community advocate and founder of Justice Served NC, a nonprofit focused on helping people stay out of the criminal justice system.

Powell wants the city to expand stormwater systems, preserve existing buildings that provide affordable housing, and assist small businesses with permitting and finding commercial space.

In this primary, the two top vote-getters will advance to the general election. Powell has deep experience in the district and offers sound ideas, but there is a reason Branch has won five terms. He knows and serves his district. We recommend Corey Branch.

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 10:30 AM.