Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin won his third term as mayor Tuesday, defeating challenger Freddie de la Cruz.

In the city council races, most incumbents reclaimed their seats.

The District 7 race between Brenda McNair and incumbent Larry Wright was very close. McNair has 679 votes, 23 more than Wright.

The margin in District 3 is even closer. Mario Benavente has 1,012 votes, just six more than incumbent Antonio Jones. The elections in Districts 3 and 7 are within the threshold for a possible recount.

The July 26 election had about 12% turnout in Fayetteville, with about 14,800 votes cast in the municipal election. About 4,300 of the ballots were cast by mail or at an early voting site.  

Get full election results here

The election date was postponed last year because of COVID-related delays getting new census numbers. The city is required to use new population data to draw new city council districts every 10 years.

Fayetteville is one of a handful of cities in North Carolina electing their next mayors and city councils Tuesday. Greensboro and Charlotte also elected their next municipal leaders.

Colvin won the nonpartisan May primary with almost 65% of the vote. De la Cruz, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, came in a distant second with about 14%, according to election results from the State Board of Elections.

Tuesday’s win for Colvin is widely seen as a vote for his leadership of the city through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are the winners from Tuesday’s Fayetteville City Council elections:

Mayor

  • Mitch Colvin - incumbent - winner
  • Freddie Delacruz

District 1

  • Kathy Keefe Jensen - incumbent - winner
  • Alex Rodriguez

District 2

  • Shakeyla Ingram - incumbent - winner
  • Tyrone A. Williams

District 3  

  • Mario (Be) Benavente - winner
  • Antonio B. Jones - incumbent 

District 4

  • Thomas C. Greene
  • D.J. Haire - incumbent - winner

District 5

  • Johnny Dawkins - incumbent - winner
  • Frederick G. LaChance III

District 6

  • Peter Pappas
  • Derrick Thompson - winner

District 7  

  • Brenda McNair  - winner
  • Larry O. Wright, Sr. - incumbent 

District 8

  • Courtney Banks-McLaughlin - incumbent - winner
  • Michael Pinkston

District 9

  • Deno Hondros - winner
  • Yvonne Y. Kinston - incumbent