Greensboro At-Large

Incumbents: Yvonne Johnson, Marikay Abuzuaiter

Seat Holder: Hugh Holston

Challengers: Linda Wilson, Katie Rossabi, Tracy Furman, Taffy L. Buchanan, Franca Jalloh, Dustin Keene, Melodi Fentress

Johnson has been the top vote-getter for a while. Abuzuaiter is only in this race because Nancy Vaughan broke her promise to not run for mayor after the 2017 election, and she is the Blue Lives Matter candidate despite being a Democrat. 

Holston replaced Michelle Kennedy, and based on his credentials, he is a surefire insider. Holston not only became the fourth consecutive fill-in to run for a full term but he was selected by the rest of the City Council precisely for that reason. Given his lack of name recognition though, he could be on the outside looking in come May 18.

Rossabi is giving Marikay a run for her money in terms of who "backs the blue" the most--and she's also the Karen Candidate--claiming that Marcus Smith was "treated humanely" and, for the lack of a better term, even caused his own death. Her ties to the police (alongside her husband) make her even more dangerous than Abuzuaiter. Plus, she's an overall killjoy who would be a major obstacle for creatives.

Buchanan is a business owner but her Facebook page didn't show any political activity when I visited it last week.

On paper, Fentress should be a shoo-in for this blog's endorsement given her direct ties to the creative community (Note: I was a frequent attendee of 2 Art Chicks, a gallery that Fentress co-owned, when events were held there from 2005 to 2007), but her "fund the police" plank--not to mention, it's the very first thing on her website--is a major deal-killer two years after the biggest uprisings in decades (the perfect analogy would be the Lakers going from championship favorites to failing to make the play-in tournament this season).

Keene is another candidate who's directly involved in the arts scene. On policing, he's a reformist, which is good enough for this cycle. Jalloh and Wilson get the other two spots over Fentress and Furman because their positions are the best among all of the challengers.