4 new faces: Here’s who won the Raleigh City Council races.

Four new members will join the Raleigh City Council after Tuesday’s election, and one incumbent who was on the ballot will not be back for another term.

Each member, including the mayor, serves a two-year term. Here’s a breakdown of each of the races:

At-Large

With all 108 precincts reporting, Council members Stormie Forte and Jonathan Melton won the two at-large seats, taking 23% and 19% of the votes respectively. Forte currently holds the District D seat but chose to run at large this year.

Council member Nicole Stewart, who holds one of the at-large seats now, chose not to run for re-election, while Melton was seeking his second at-large term.

But the other candidates in the at-large field were no strangers to local government. Two former Council members, Anne Franklin and John Odom, ran again. The other candidates — James Bledsoe, Joshua Bradley and Portia Rochelle — had all run for public office before.

“We have to continue to focus on eliminating exclusionary zoning, increasing affordable housing, increasing access to transit and just building a more sustainable, less-car dependent city,” Melton said in an interview Tuesday night. “And so that’s been my focus during my first term, it’s going to be my focus during my second term, and I hope to find consensus for all of those initiatives with the new council.”

Forte didn’t respond to a call from The News & Observer late Tuesday night.

District A

This seat encompasses most of central, north Raleigh.

Incumbent Council member Patrick Buffkin did not run for re-election.

With all 30 precincts reporting, Mary Black won 39% of the vote, defeating Whitney Hill and Cat Lawson.

She’s a strategic communication manager at The Chisholm Legacy Project, which works to “connect Black communities on the frontline of climate justice” with various resources.

She plans to propose in her first 100 days in office a “climate and equity review” for all rezoning and development cases, according to her candidate questionnaire.

She expressed shock at becoming one of the youngest candidates elected to serve on the council.

“I just want to put out a message that if you think something can be done and if you have a passion, do it,” she said. “To go after whatever you think is possible despite what people say. You never know what is going to happen. I never expected this to happen.”

District B

This district includes northeast Raleigh.

Incumbent Council member David Cox did not run for re-election.

There were five names on the ballot but Zainab Baloch announced in September she was out. The other candidates were Minu Lee; Jakob Lorberblatt; Megan Patton, who is endorsed by Cox; and Frank Pierce.

With all 18 precincts reporting, Patton won with 42% of the vote.

“I’m optimistic that we’ll find good collaboration with all the folks who will be on there,” she said in an interview late Tuesday. “And I hope that we’ll find ways to collaborate and continue the good work that the council has been doing, but also enhance some places where we’ve fallen short in the last few years.”

District C

This seat includes southeast Raleigh.

Incumbent Council member Corey Branch, seeking his fourth term, faced Frank Fields III and Wanda Hunter.

With all 19 precincts reporting, Branch won with 44% of the vote.

Reached Tuesday night, the 44-year-old said he was elated.

“We just have to find a way to come back together as a city,” he said. “We can’t address our challenges with housing, transportation and economic development unless we find a way to be able to talk with each other and not at each other.”

District D

This seat includes southwest Raleigh.

With incumbent Forte running at-large, the four candidates for the district seat were Rob Baumgart, Jane Harrison, Todd Kennedy and Jennifer Truman.

With all 19 precincts reporting, Harrison won with 56% of the vote.

She’s an environmental economist, and works as a coastal economics specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program based at N.C. State University.

She plans to reinstate citizen advisory councils, “strengthen the city’s housing affordability plan with a focus on reversing displacement” and establishing monthly district community meetings, according to her campaign questionnaire.

“I’m just pleased to see the mix of folks that are going to be on council,” Harrison said in an interview Wednesday. “I think we’ve got a good mixture of fresh faces and ideas, and then, you know, folks with experience with the incumbents on council, and I’m really hopeful that we can work together and make great things happen for Raleigh.”

District E

This district includes northwest Raleigh.

With all 22 precincts reporting, Christina Jones defeated incumbent David Knight, who was seeking his second term.

Jones, a substitute teacher and former chairperson of the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council, won with 51% of the vote.

Jones, 37, has attended every Raleigh City Council meeting since it disbanded the Citizen Advisory Councils in February 2020. She wants to bring them back, and it’s the one initiative she said she will propose in her first 100 days in office, according to The N&O’s candidate questionnaire.

She will be the third District E council member in as many terms. Knight unseated first-term incumbent Stef Mendell in 2019.

Neither Jones nor Knight responded to a phone call from The N&O late Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning, Knight officially conceded and wished Jones luck “with the big issues facing this city.”

“As a political independent, my goal has always been to focus on the local issues facing our community and to work with all people regardless of political affiliation,” he said. “This year’s elections saw the impact of those compelled to vote along party lines, even in nonpartisan municipal races.”