Fayetteville City Council District 2: Shakelya Ingram beats Tyrone Williams, Janene Ackles
Shakeyla Ingram received 749 votes, and Tyrone Williams drew 653. Voters submitted 144 write-in ballots. Ackles ran as a write-in candidate.
Paul Woolverton
In one of this year’s more closely watched Fayetteville City Council elections, first-term Councilwoman Shakelya Ingram beat challengers Tyrone A. Williams and Janene Ackles on Tuesday.
According to unofficial returns, Ingram received 749 votes, or 48.45% of those tallied as of Tuesday, while Williams drew 653, or 42.24%.
Ackles ran as a write-in candidate after losing the primary in May. The elections staff said 144 voters wrote in someone’s name, but the specific names weren’t available on Tuesday night.
Those 144 write-in votes came to 9.31%.
“I learned a lot within this election,” Ingram said. “I learned there’s so much more room to get better and to grow, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
In her next term, Ingram plans to work to boost Fayetteville’s median income. She said it will take time.
“And I will say this: That will not happen within the next year. It won’t,” Ingram said. “But we can begin to lay a firm foundation of what that may look like.”
Full Election Results:See vote totals from July 26 mayor, city council elections
Williams previously served in the City Council District 2 seat.
After winning the election in fall 2017, he left office in spring 2018 under pressure from the rest of the City Council, which had begun taking steps to eject him from office. This happened because the developer who was converting the Prince Charles Hotel downtown into apartments had made a recording of Williams asking for money to facilitate that project.
Williams could not be reached for comment on Tuesday evening.
Ackles previously ran in 2019, but Ingram defeated her. On Tuesday night she congratulated Ingam, but also promised a rematch.
“But just know: She better do a good job, because I’m coming again,” Ackles said.
Ackles is from the Cedar Creek area across the Cape Fear River. One of the reasons she ran, she has said, is that the people across the river from Fayetteville proper have felt neglected.
Ingram acknowledged that even though she defeated Ackles and Williams, she also got less than a majority of the votes.
“It says that I’ve still got some people that I need to touch and I need to get to know,” Ingram said.
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.