Greensboro Mayor

Candidates: Robbie Perkins, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Mark Cummings, Akir Khan

Nancy Vaughan is retiring after 12 years in office--and not a moment too soon because her tenure has mostly been horrible. The list is long: Losing the ACC headquarters, Greensboro being the hungriest city in the nation, backing boondoggles like the Tanger Center, police violence/settlements.

The problem is that many of the people aiming to succeed her aren't any better. Let's start off with Vaughan's predecessor, Perkins. This guy was a certified jerk during his two years at the top. He only got elected in 2011 because the previous conservative coalition overreached by reopening the controversial White Street Landfill. Perkins was run out of office due to bankruptcy and a nasty divorce in which his ex-wife openly via billboards urged voters to back Vaughan. Greensboro's food problems started under Perkins when the city was the fourth hungriest in America, and then the second hungriest the following year before the 2015 bombshell. And what did Robbie do? He was too busy pushing for the Tanger Center and also insisted on it being built downtown while he and other leaders let the War Memorial Auditorium wither away. If the voters want to accelerate Greensboro's decline, then please send Robbie back to the mayor's office.

Abuzuaiter's past as a police informant during the early 2010s continues sticking out like a sore thumb. Besides her stance as the Blue Lives Matter Democrat, it seems like she's using this run developer Milton Kern did in '07: As a capstone on her bland legacy. Given her 14 years in office, a promotion for Marikay would be four more years of Nancy Vaughan but with lots more copaganda.

Cummings is running for mayor for the second straight cycle because of a 2019 deal that bars him from ever running for a judge again. The lack of support for him says it all.

Khan previously applied for the vacant at-large seat (alongside Allem and Smith). He's at odds with his own party as state and national leaders engage in open fascism. He's right about challenging the business as usual status quo given he's the only one in this race who is a breath of fresh air. Khan would have been much better off changing his affiliation to independent given how toxic being a Republican in Greensboro has become. His party affiliation makes this more of a begrudging endorsement than an enthusiastic one.