Democrats win 4 Wake County commissioners races, retain complete control of the board

Democrats won three contested races for seats on the Wake County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, according to unofficial Election Day results.

A fourth Democrat ran unopposed. The results mean Democrats will continue to occupy all seven seats on the board.

Voters chose commissioners to serve in Wake County’s districts 1, 2, 3 and 7. The terms for commissioners in districts 4, 5 and 6 are up in 2024.

With all 208 Wake County precincts reporting late Tuesday, Democrats held overwhelming leads in the three contested races.

District 1

Donald Mial, a Democrat, defeated Republican Chanel Harris for the seat held by the board’s current chairman, Sig Hutchinson, who did not seek reelection.

Mial finished the race with 61.5%, or 268,046 votes, to 167,730 for Harris.

In a phone call with The News & Observer, Mial said he is looking forward to getting to work. He first filed to run for the position in December.

“After such a long, hard time, it was well worth it,” he said. “The people have spoken, and they’ve put trust in me to represent them.”

Mial, 69, said his priorities are education, public safety and health and human services in Wake County.

District 2

Incumbent Democrat Matt Calabria won with 272,333 votes, or 62.5%, over Republican challenger Mark McMains, who finished with 163,752 votes.

Calabria, 39, was first elected to the board in 2014, then again in 2018 and 2020. He told The N&O that managing growth will continue to be a critical challenge he wants to prioritize.

District 3

Republican Irina Comer lost her race to Democrat Cheryl Stallings, who received 267,395 votes compared to 169,110 for Comer.

Incumbent Maria Cervania, who was first elected in 2020, chose to run for a seat in the state House rather than seek reelection.

Stallings, 56, is a psychologist and wants to tackle housing affordability, public education and health care as commissioner for District 3.

District 7

Vickie Adamson, a Democrat, kept her seat in District 7 after running unopposed. She received 301,221 votes.

Adamson was first elected to the seat in 2018 and re-elected in 2020.