September 21 – 27, 2017
HIGH POINT Mayor (vote for 1)
Tanner Lucas: A political neophyte, Lucas’ responses to the League of Women Voters’ questionnaire indicates that he sees manufacturing jobs as the city’s top priority. “Ever since Greensboro has lost textile mill jobs a decade ago, Greensboro has been in need of specializing in producing important material goods,” he writes.
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accountability because on one hand he argues for greater sensitivity and transparency, but then accuses the current council of pandering to “the east” (read: black people).
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Tammy Thurm: A firm administrator at the Hagan, Barrett & Langley law firm, challenger Thurm has raised $27,110 — more than double what her incumbent opponent has generated. Thurm’s campaign finance reports paint a picture of a candidate closely tied into the city’s business and philanthropic networks, but her progressive bona fides are established by a perfect 5 score from Democracy Greensboro. She favors tying business incentives to an average minimum salary for workers, using tax increment financing for economic development, and providing as much public access to police body cameras as legally permissible. Two pro-LGBTQ committees — Replacements Limited PAC and Equality NC — are banking on Thurm with endorsements.
Bruce Davis: Former Guilford County Commissioner Davis has experienced a run of tough breaks in his quest for higher office. When the position of mayor came open with Bill Bencini’s announcement that he would not seek reelection, it was an irresistible prize to the veteran politician and daycare operator. A Democrat, Davis will likely corral the black vote in High Point, and he goes into the primary with the endorsement of the pro-LGBTQ Replacements Limited PAC. High Point elections are nominally nonpartisan and the city’s politics don’t necessarily break along party lines. As a supporter of the downtown stadium as a catalyst project, Davis lands in the same camp as opponent Jay Wagner, a pro-revitalization Republican. As chairman of the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau, Davis has part of discussions about the stadium since the inception of the idea. Where he might break with his opponents is over matters of policing and racial equity. Earlier this year, he took the police department and city manager to task for not showing up for a community meeting to discuss the city’s alarming homicide rate.
appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mayor Bernita Sims when she resigned and pled guilty to a felony charge of passing a worthless check. The following year, Davis’ complaints about a public forum on police-community relations organized by the city’s black human relations director set the stage for her firing. On the downtown stadium — the single most galvanizing issue in the election — Davis wound up voting with his colleagues in April to approve $15 million for land acquisition and site design for the project, but not without expressing misgivings.
Jay Wagner: Since his first unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2010, lawyer Wagner has sometimes sung a lonesome song as an advocate for reinvestment in the core city. After his election to Ward 4 in 2012, he often found himself outnumbered by his change-averse colleagues, particularly when he aligned himself with the new urbanist vision of Andres Duany. With the 2014 election, the revitalization forces gained a slim majority. And now, with the approval the downtown stadium, the winds are seemingly at Wagner’s back. “I think we’ve reached the point where the city, the general public, the business community and High Point University are all on the same page,” he told TCB.
about keeping taxes low for the city’s poorest property owners. Since her election to council three years ago, she found herself in the curious position of being the second most popular politician after Mayor Bill Bencini, but ostracized and isolated at the losing end of votes on the new pro-revitalization council. And true to form, she cast the only no vote against the downtown stadium project in April. She’s keeping the issue live by demanding a do-over with a referendum to give citizens a voice in the decision.
Mary Lou Andrews Blakeney (I): When four NC A&T students launched a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960, 15-year-old Mary Lou Andrews and her classmates at William Penn High School took note and duplicated the effort 10 days later at the Woolworth’s in High Point. After moving away for a time, Blakeney returned to her hometown and became an advocate for senior services. Her activism led to her election to an at-large seat in 2008, but she was unseated two years later. Her priorities are still the same, and she wants to find ways to support housing for seniors so they can avoid high-cost assisted-living facilities.
At-large (vote for up to 2)
Jim Davis: The other Davis in the race, Jim represents the city’s conservative Republican base. A builder who currently represents Ward 5 on the north end of the city, Davis like many of his current constituents takes a skeptical view of spending public dollars on the revitalization of the core city. He’s the only candidate in the race who has previously held the seat. In 2014, he was
Cindy Davis (I): A populist fiscal conservative, Davis’ skepticism towards public spending is framed by a concern
Daniel Gardner: The 26-year-old Gardner works as a community branch banker with BB&T and possesses a friendly demeanor. He got started in politics as a middle schooler working polling places for local conservative politicians Jim Davis and Chris Whitley, who are respectively running for mayor and for the Ward 5 seat. Gardner takes a skeptical view of the stadium project,