When Greensboro residents cast their votes for a new city council last week, it was more than another election: it was a true sea change.
Voters chose to return just three incumbents to the nine-member council—Marikay Abuzuaiter, who was elected mayor; Hugh Holston, a popular at-large member; and Tammi Thurm, who retained her seat in District 5.
The new council will be very different in age, race, and experience. That could change not just how the council looks but what it looks at—altering city government’s priorities and direction in a way that worries some in the city and energizes others.
‘A Generational Change’
Long-time city council members like Mayor Nancy Vaughan, Goldie Wells, and Nancy Hoffman all decided last year they wouldn’t run again, as did the late Yvonne Johnson before her death last December. With nearly half the council stepping aside, a new slate of candidates stepped forward to contend for open seats and with veteran council members. Incumbents Sharon Hightower and Zack Matheny lost their re-election bids to younger candidates, while Jamilla Pinder, who was appointed by the council to finish Johnson’s unexpired term, did not retain her at-large seat.
At 46, Pinder was the youngest member of the council when she was appointed. That distinction will now go to new at-large member Irving Allen, 38.
“I think that change is important both on council and off council,” Allen said. “A lot of the folks who got elected have been organizers in and of the community for years, just like Goldie Wells when she came on council and Yvonne Johnson when she came on council.”
“That’s important for governance, to have a new generation making decisions,” Allen said. “But it’s also important for networks—who is serving on boards and commissions, who has the ear of folks that are making the decisions. Frankly, what generation of thinking is taking hold in leadership right now. I think all of that is important for moving us forward.”
Adam Marshall, the 43-year-old attorney who won in District 4, agrees. He will replace Nancy Hoffman, who is stepping down at 83 years old.
“This is a generational change election,” Marshall said. “That may worry some folks, but I think we’ll look at things through a different lens, and I think that’s exciting. Maybe we’ll see city government differently because we just grew up in a different time. And I’m excited to see what that will look like.”
One of Greensboro’s great underused resources is its young people, Allen said. There are seven colleges and universities in the city—N.C. A&T State University, Bennett College, UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro College, Guilford College, Guilford Technical Community College, and Elon Law. But too few students now actively engage with their city government, Allen said, in some measure because the city hasn’t prioritized them.
Young people have been a large part of Allen’s campaign and his community organizing work. He appreciates the passion of youth and the way their engagement can make lasting change, he said. In a sense, it’s a part of his family tradition. His uncle, David Richmond, was one of the A&T Four who kicked off the sit-in movement to end segregation and his father, Steve Allen, is a longtime civil rights attorney
“I’ve already been talking to students about getting engaged and involved, about wanting to be a part of more community organizations,” Allen said. “We’re talking through some of the barriers that they’ve had on their campuses and in the city, to being more involved. So how do we get them involved and keep them involved?”
Keeping Greensboro’s college students in the city should be a priority, Marshall said
“When I graduated from N.C. State in 2005, and I said I was coming back to Greensboro, people said, ‘Really? Why?’ Marshall said. “All the jobs were in Raleigh or the Triangle or in Charlotte. That’s not the case anymore, and with all of the economic development success we’re seeing, we’re going to see more jobs and more employers here. But if we want to hold on to our college students, if Greensboro wants to keep its talent, we have to invest in infrastructure, we have to invest in attainable housing, we have to give them reasons to stay.”
April Parker, who defeated incumbent Zack Matheny in District 3, said Greensboro was “the land of opportunity” for her when she moved here with a young daughter in 2010. Part of that was that the city was affordable, something she said the new council will concentrate on restoring and preserving.
“I got to raise my kid as a renter in Glenwood, I was able to earn a master’s degree at UNCG and still be the kind of parent I wanted to be, and then later I became a homeowner,” Parker said. “So I’ve experienced all of that. And that’s what we will do — we will create this kind of affordability, this opportunity, a way in which people can afford to live a purpose-filled life.”
The prospect of a real shift on council excited candidates, voters, and volunteers of all ages, newly elected candidates told The Assembly. This year’s elections saw organizing, door-knocking, and community forums across the city, unlike any in recent memory. That’s down to how a younger generation campaigned, several of the newly elected said, less about mailers and billboards and more about meeting with voters one-on-one and hearing their concerns.
“It was kind of exhausting, going all over and talking to so many people all over the city all these months,” Marshall said. “But we needed to get out there and meet people, and they needed to get to meet us. And there was so much excitement for that. I think people really felt the change coming.”
Parker called it “the longest job interview in history,” but said campaigning in District 3 for over a year helped her build bonds with parts of the district that didn’t feel represented.
“I can tell you that District 3 feels represented now,” Parker said. “I had office hours every week in a local coffee shop. I was accessible. They hadn’t really had that.”
“We motivated people who were disengaged from local politics and got hundreds of new voters,” Parker said. “The reason why we won is because we represented and included everybody. If you look at the map of where my voters came from, they are from every precinct, every political party—Republicans, unaffiliateds, and the Democrats all voted for me.”
Making History
The new council won’t just be different—it will be historic.
The city elected six Black council members, the most in its history.
Denise Roth, the first former city manager elected to council, was the top vote-getter in the at-large race, which by tradition will make her mayor pro tempore. The increase in Black representation on the council came from a record number of Black candidates, she said, inspired by the possibility of change in an election with so many open seats.
“In terms of it being historic from an African American standpoint,” said Roth, “I think with the number of members we have retiring and the moment of change on the horizon, it opened the aperture of people who said, ‘I want to represent this community in the future.’”
“Those people brought constituencies from all over the city who may not have been otherwise engaged,” Roth said.
But it was not simply a matter of Black voters voting for Black candidates, Roth said. With the numbers put up by Black candidates in the districts and at-large races, she said, it is clear that a broad and diverse electorate chose them.
“I think more than race, the thing that is resonating most with the Greensboro voter is, where are they today, where do they want to be in the future, and who do they want to see representing them?” Roth said.
Greensboro’s first Black council majority comes at an important time, said Cecile “CC” Crawford, who was elected to the council’s District 2 seat.
“I’m very excited that we’ve broken that ceiling,” Crawford said. “Because it’s 2025 and it’s still a big deal that six Black city council members were elected. Not to mention, during a time when [President Donald Trump’s] administration is firing federal workers and military officials based on the color of their skin. Under an administration that has cut any kind of [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] programs, a court system cutting affirmative action. These are attacks on people of color, an attack on women—and we still got six Black council members.”
“I think it says people are fed up with the status quo,” Crawford said.
But the council’s Black members are not a monolith, she said.
“We all have different specialities, different desires, different bases,” Crawford said. “So what you’re getting is six economically diverse, specialty diverse folks on council that are willing to work together as a team to tackle these issues that all of us are facing. We just happen to be Black.”
Dissatisfaction with the lack of investment in heavily Black East Greensboro and the feeling that the council wasn’t heeding environmental concerns in Bingham Park drove people to the polls this year, newly elected council members said. Many of them ran on those issues, which Roth said are likely to move to the forefront of council conversations.
“I do think it’s a fair notion to say that maybe some of the items that have been left lingering at times in terms of areas that are underinvested would likely receive more notice within this council,” Roth said. “I think that’s in the makeup of the council just by virtue of those who ran.”
In ways beyond race, Crawford said, the new council looks a lot more like the majority of Greensboro than any council before it.
“What needs to be talked about is the fact that a great percentage of Greensboro are working-class people,” Crawford said. “There are also four Black women coming on to council, and I think that’s a beautiful change. There is a lot we’re now bringing to council that is new.
The goal is to have everyone in the district and the city represented on the city council, Parker said. But the greater diversity of who provides that representation does matter in ways that aren’t acknowledged enough.
Over the weekend, Parker said, she went to Providence Baptist Church. Founded in 1866 by formerly enslaved people, it is one of the city’s oldest traditionally Black churches.
“So many District 3 residents are part of that church, and the whole church stood for me,” Parker said. “To feel that, and to see little girls wearing an April Parker pin, to have them tell me their parents voted for me … that really changes the district, and it really transformed me and my life.”
‘A Major Moment of Transition‘
All the new council members will assume their seats with no previous experience in elected office.
That’s an opportunity for fresh eyes said Roth, a former city manager and administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration under President Barack Obama. But the council also needs to focus and establish priorities quickly, she said.
“With all the opportunity and economic investment we’re seeing come online, we need to be strategic and set a direction,” Roth said. “Because this is a major moment of transition.”
“This is a generational change election. That may worry some folks, but I think we’ll look at things through a different lens, and I think that’s exciting. Maybe we’ll see city government differently because we just grew up in a different time. And I’m excited to see what that will look like.”
Adam Marshall, the newly elected District 3 city council member
Marshall has heard concerns about the relative lack of experience on the new council, but said he believes there is a good mixture of knowledge and fresh perspectives among the incoming members.
“We do have Marikay Abuzuaiter, Hugh Holston, and Tammi Thurm returning,” Marshall said. “We also have Denise, who was city manager. And while I’ve never run for office, a number of us have spent years serving on city boards and commissions. I’ve been on the ABC board, the Board of Adjustment, the Zoning Commission, and the Human Relations Commission.”
The incoming group has also spent months campaigning together, Marshall said, building a rapport as they answered tough questions in candidate forums and in interviews.
“I think we’ve got a group of good people who all want what’s best for the city of Greensboro,” he said. “We’re already familiar with each other, and we’ve heard each other already on so many issues. I think we’re starting off very strong.”
“I think whether we’ve been in office or not, we need to remember that a majority of the people who were elected are of the community and have been working in community for years,” Crawford said. “As for myself, I hold what I’ve learned from my community and what they want very seriously.”
“I think that that is different than what we have seen in the last few councils,” Crawford said. “We didn’t feel like there was any transparency or accountability, and that unless you’re their friends, you really were going to have a hard time getting something that your community wants.”
“This time, you’ve got five people coming in from the community,” Crawford said. “Fresh, spanking new, but from the community—and bringing in immediately what it is that the community wants. The only thing that we need is to be onboarded and to learn all of the details of the job. But we’re ready.”