Mayor of North Carolina’s capital city won’t seek reelection this fall

RALEIGH, N.C. — The mayor of North Carolina’s capital announced on Tuesday that she would not seek re-election this fall, partly due to health problems and a new job.

Mary-Ann Baldwin, whose time on the Raleigh City Council dates back to 2007, has been mayor since December 2019. Raleigh is North Carolina’s second-largest city by population, with more than 475,000 residents.

“It is time to dedicate my energy to myself and my family, and find other ways to serve,” Baldwin said in a video revealing her decision.

Baldwin detailed her husband’s breast cancer diagnosis and open-heart surgery last year, along with their dog’s illness, news outlets reported. She said she is cancer-free, her husband is doing well and their dog is recovering.

“These events made life even more stressful, making me wonder how much more I could handle,” Baldwin said. “My head and my heart were in conflict.”

Baldwin also started a new role this month as the first executive director of a foundation designed to provide grants to people who can’t meet their monthly expenses.

Baldwin arrived in Raleigh in the late 1980s. She was a member of the city council until 2017, after which she was elected mayor in 2019. She was re-elected in 2022.

Several announced mayoral candidates had emerged before Tuesday, including current Councilmember Corey Branch and Janet Cowell, a former councilmember and former state treasurer. Submission of candidates will begin in July.

In the video, Baldwin highlighted her efforts as mayor of the fast-growing city to encourage affordable housing and develop the downtown Warehouse District. She also mentioned the upcoming renovation of the PNC Arena — home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and North Carolina State University men’s basketball — and the emerging development around it that will inject more private development into west Raleigh.

Baldwin also was at the helm of the city in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And there was criticism of the way local police handled the protests that year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Some demonstrations resulted in vandalism and damage to downtown businesses.