As elections approach, you can get to know the lighter side of the candidates running for Chapel Hill mayor.
Candidates Mark Kleinschmidt, the incumbent, and newcomer Tim Sookram took a break from serious campaigning to answer a few personal questions for The Daily Tar Heel.
Kevin Wolff, the race’s third candidate, to emails in time for publication.
Mark Kleinschmidt
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt admittedly doesn’t have much time for his hobbies, but he stays active by running and exercising at the gym. Of all movie characters, he would most like to trade places with Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the football player whose story inspired the movie “Rudy.”
Sports aside, Kleinschmidt’s dream superpower is flight, a skill he would put to good use by traveling anywhere in the world. And he said he has a dream travel destination.
“New York, if I could get tickets to ‘The Book of Mormon,‘” Kleinschmidt said. ”Otherwise, back to the Galapagos.”
Still, his roots are in Chapel Hill. Kleinschmidt went to his first concert at the Dean Dome to see Genesis on its Invisible Touch tour in 1987. Today, he likes to listen to musician Rufus Wainwright. His favorite dessert is molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.
Tim Sookram
Tim Sookram, candidate for mayor of Chapel Hill, said he has always had “mayor” on his mind. Sookram, who grew up in Houston, Texas, admires Kenneth Broun, former mayor of Chapel Hill, and wants to follow in Broun’s footsteps.
Sookram, who moved to Chapel Hill in 2010, said that rather than travel anywhere in the world, he would like to stay in the town. He says his dream superpower would be to telepathically know where his constituents stand on a given issue.
When he isn’t listening to John Mayer, playing croquet or enjoying King Cake, Sookram said he would most like to trade places with Cheng Cheng, a character in the Chinese documentary “Please Vote for Me.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
