MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. -- While congressional races and the president's impact on politics dominated the mid-term elections in November there was a quiet, but seismic shift happening with the Mecklenburg County commission. In 2019, a democrat will occupy every seat on that board. They like to call themselves the “freshmen four.”

  • Mark Jerrell, who will represent district four, ran opposed for the seat commissioner Dumont Clarke is retiring from
  • Elaine Powell, Susan B. Harden, and Susan Rodriguez-McDowell; however, all ran campaigns unseating incumbent republicans
  • Their win collectively though means all nine members on the commission come 2019 will be democratic

"You've been on the campaign trail with these folks and you're really rooting for them,” said commissioner-elect Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, who will represent district 6. “I never dreamed that we would all win but I'm thrilled that we have."

Spectrum News sat down with the four newly elected members of the Mecklenburg County commission just days before they're sworn in next week.

Mark Jerrell, who will represent district four, ran opposed for the seat commissioner Dumont Clarke is retiring from. "We really have a majority female board, three women ousting men is kind of a big deal," McDowell said.

Elaine Powell, Susan B. Harden, and Susan Rodriguez-McDowell; however, all ran campaigns unseating incumbent republicans. "I hope that we set a model for other people on how to run the right way, without being nasty to each other," Commissioner-elect Powell said.

"I think it's a mandate that people want a change,” Commissioner-elect Harden said. “They want to see some fresh ideas and fresh energy and that's what we're gonna do."

Their win collectively though means all nine members on the commission come 2019 will be democratic. That hasn't happened since 1964.

"I think that the hair on fire response that we're hearing out in the community from some folks is a bit misguided," Rodriguez-McDowell. Some people are assuming they'll help rail through a liberal agenda with little to no conservative checks and balances. "We're not gonna just arbitrarily be out here like a bunch of cowboys screaming yaa-hoo, raise taxes," Jerrell said. "There is not a sense of group think going on, each of us have specific challenges in our district and we have to make that overall the county's issues are addressed."

That’s precisely why Susan B. Harden, a UNCC professor of education, ran to represent district five. "I've been here 30 years,” Commissioner-elect Harden said. “I wanted to model what strong, female leadership could look like for my students and my children."

None of the newly elected members have prior experience in elected office. But that's that fresh energy operations manager Rodriguez-Powell believes got her elected to serve district 6. "I would say we've done a 180 in district 6."

"After the 2016 election, after the women's march, I became more engaged, I started out as a vice-chair for my precinct," Rodriguez-McDowell said.

They all possess grassroots reasons for their pursuit of politics. "We need leaders, elected leaders who are asking for citizen input as part of the decision making process," Powell said. "I felt like change was needed, fresh voices were needed, opportunity, ideas."

Jerrell hopes to combine that with the commission's remaining incumbents. "They bring a depth of knowledge that we don't have and we respect that.”