Carrboro mayoral candidates beat write-ins

Lydia Lavelle made history Tuesday after she was elected to be the first openly lesbian mayor in North Carolina.

“We are such a progressive community that it doesn’t even matter,” Lavelle said.

“I just try to have people in North Carolina see that gay and lesbian citizens, we’re just like everyone else. We just need to be part of the fabric of North Carolina.”

The uncontested Carrboro mayoral candidate won 96.16 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from Orange County precincts.

“I’m excitedly nervous,” Lavelle said. “You always have all these hopes and dreams and expectations and you are never more popular than when you first get elected to something.”

She sees Carrboro as a progressive, growing town with a lot of culture.

“That is really exciting to think that I get to lead a board and lead a community that I think has such great, forward-thinking values,” Lavelle said.

She said she is excited to lead Carrboro in encouraging alternative transit, including biking and busing.

Lavelle said she wants the town to grow in vibrancy, which she said would be reflected in stable homeowner tax rates.

She said she hopes people will continue to have faith in her as a leader.

A call from Biden

Minutes away, excitement flooded the room at Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe where incumbent Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and other candidates watched results come in on a projector.

Kleinschmidt won with 89.57 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Kleinschmidt said Vice President Joe Biden called him after his election to congratulate him.

He said Biden told him a lot of the change being created in America is happening in mayors’ offices.

Matt DeBellis, Kleinschmidt’s partner, said he still was unnerved by the write-in candidates.

Write-in candidates garnered 10.43 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

“I knew he’d get it, but why couldn’t he be unopposed?” DeBellis said.

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