(NewsNation) — Voters in Charlotte will head to the polls Tuesday to determine if longtime Mayor Vi Lyles will remain in power or be ousted by one of her two challengers.
Democrat Lyles is seeking a fifth term after she garnered more than 70% of the vote in the September primary election. Lyles, who has served as Charlotte’s mayor since 2017 and is the city’s longest-serving mayor since Pat McCrory served from 1995 to 2005, will face Republican Terrie Donovan and Libertarian Rob Yates.
Lyles secured the victory despite ongoing criticism over her handling of the fatal stabbing of a young Ukrainian refugee on Charlotte’s light rail system in August. Iryna Zarutska, 23, was killed in what officials are calling an unprovoked stabbing by a man who is homeless. The tragedy has brought criticism of Lyles’ leadership from several elected leaders, including South Carolina Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Ralph Norman, who has urged the mayor to resign.
In response, Lyles said she was committed to more transparency.
“The good thing about it is being in a city where you can say, ‘I made a mistake,’ and people say, ‘That’s OK,’” Lyles told a local television station. “That’s all I ask for.”
Donovan, a local real estate agent, is seeking to become Charlotte’s first GOP mayor since McCrory.
“We need transparency, and the crime rate is just out of control here, so we need change. That’s what made me decide to run,” Donovan said in an interview with WCNC in Charlotte.
Yates is running for mayor for the second time and praised Lyles’ leadership while citing their political differences at a local election forum ahead of Tuesday’s election.
“Libertarians, for those of you who don’t know, operate on a very simple philosophy — don’t hurt people, don’t take their stuff, equal rights for everyone,” Yates said, according to WCNC.
Lyles maintained her campaign platform of affordable housing, creating more jobs and transportation.
Polls in North Carolina close at 7:30 p.m. ET. Follow election results in the tracker below: