Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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6 UCW MARCH 2 - 8, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM e Congressional map for North Carolina has been replaced by a deci- sion made by a panel of Superior Court judges, which will impact elections for Cumberland County. Instead of being part of a new 4th Congressional Dis- trict, the county is now being broken up between two districts. e major- ity of Cumberland County will be in District 7 whereas the northwest part of Cumberland County is in District 9. Many of the candidates who filed or declared interest in running for District 4 will now have to re-file for a new district. Congressional candidates don't have to live in the district for which they are running. Congressional District 7 Currently filed Democrats running for this seat include Yushonda Midg- ette and Cumberland County Commis- sioner Charles Evans. Republicans who have filed for Congressional District 7 include in- cumbent Rep. David Rouzer and Max Southworth-Beckwith. Congressional District 9 Currently filed Republicans running for this seat include incumbent Rep. Richard Hudson and Francisco Rios. Rep. John Szoka, and former Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson have announced they are running in the Republican primary for this seat, but have not yet filed. Democrat Senator Ben Clark has announced he is running for this seat, but has not filed as of writing this article. Other Elections Fayetteville Councilmember Chris Davis has filed to run for the North Carolina House of Representatives in District 45 — the seat is currently held by Szoka. Davis is running as a Demo- crat. So far, no one has announced they will run against him. Davis represents District 6 for Fayetteville, meaning there will be no incumbent running for this seat. Currently, Joy Marie Potts and Leigh Howard have filed to run for the Dis- trict 6 seat. District 3 is highly contested. Cur- rently there are four people who have filed for candidacy — John J. Zimmer- man, Mario (Be) Benavente, Kurin Keys and incumbent Antonio B. Jones. Jones was appointed to the seat after former Councilwoman Tisha Waddell resigned late last year. Another city council race that will be contested is District 2 — currently being held by Councilwoman Shakeyla Ingram. Former councilman Tyrone Williams has filed to run for the seat. He resigned in 2018 amid accusations that he sought money in an implied pay-to-play deal from Prince Charles Holdings for help in acquiring a prop- erty title. Janene Ackles, a Cumberland County Community Watch Coalition founder and grant writer, has also announced that she will be running for the District 2 seat. Ingram has not currently filed for re-election. ere are currently four people chal- lenging Mayor Mitch Colvin for the mayoral seat. e candidates running against Colvin are John Antoine Miner, Franco Webb, Efrain "Freddie" Dela- cruz and Nyrell Melvin. e filing period runs through noon on March 4. Primary elections are scheduled for May 17. For the latest on this story and who has filed for local elections, visit UpAndComingWeekly. com. Redistricting impacts local elections by HANNAH LEE Image of the congressional map currently being used in the 2022 U.S. House elections in North Carolina. Cumberland County is split between Congressional Districts 7 and 9. A three-judge panel enacted the map on Feb. 23, 2022. (Image courtesy of the North Carolina General Assembly.) HANNAH LEE, Assistant Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. NEWS JOIN US TODAY! Equal Credit Opportunity Lender. We Believe in our Purpose: • Helping You Live Your Best Life • Our Members • Our Community