Greensboro’s fall election season is officially underway. Candidates for mayor and City Council have filed their paperwork, and several races are looking competitive.
Four candidates have filed to run for mayor, including several familiar names. The seat is open for the first time in more than a decade, with Nancy Vaughan stepping down.
Marikay Abuzuaiter, who has served on Council since 2011, is seeking a promotion to the city’s top job. She was named Mayor Pro Tem, a kind of vice mayor, after Yvonne Johnson’s passing.
Former Mayor Robbie Perkins is also making a bid to return to office. He held the position for one term beginning in 2011 before losing to Vaughan. He’s one of two registered Republicans in the race — the other is Akir Khan, a political newcomer and board member of the nonprofit Out of the Garden Project, which addresses child hunger.
Also running is Mark Cummings, who previously served as a Guilford County District Court judge. He left the bench in 2019 amid allegations of misconduct, which he has denied. Cummings now works as a criminal defense attorney and ran unsuccessfully against Vaughan in 2022.
On Council, three at-large seats are up for grabs. Incumbents Hugh Holston and Jamila Pinder are both seeking re-election, facing eight challengers, including longtime former council member and current school board representative T. Dianne Bellamy-Small.
District incumbents Zack Matheny, Sharon Hightower, and Tammi Thurm are all running again. Thurm and Hightower each face one opponent; Matheny has two.
With incumbent Goldie Wells stepping down, District Two is wide open. Five candidates have tossed their hats into the ring.
The primary is set for October 7.