WILMINGTON — The 2025 election season includes candidates for Wilmington city council and mayor — and forums are ramping up ahead of Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Two are slated to take place this month, hosted by the New Hanover County NAACP, New Hanover for All, and AFL-CIO. The forums, held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 401 South 8th St., will be moderated by WECT’s Jon Evans.
The first is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 2, 5:30 p.m. It will feature city council candidates, which has three seats up for grabs. Candidates who filed this election season include incumbents Clifford Barnett and Luke Waddell, and challengers J.C. Lyle, Richard Collier, Sean Guerrero, Chakema Clinton-Quintana, Kelly J. Roberts Jr., and Cassidy Santaguida.
A mayoral forum is planned for Monday, Sept. 15, 5:30 p.m. Running against incumbent Mayor Bill Saffo, who has served for 20 years as the city leader, are former commissioner Jonathan Barfield and veteran law enforcement officer Billy Craig.
Doors to the forums open at 5 p.m. and according to NAACP, all candidates have been invited. City council is a non-partisan board.
“We are committed to ensuring that our community has access to the information they need to make informed decisions at the ballot box,” LeRon Montgomery, president of the New Hanover County NAACP, said in a release. “These forums are about civic engagement, accountability, and amplifying the voices of our residents.
The NAACP focuses on political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all and works toward eliminating race-based discrimination.
New Hanover for All is a grassroots organization with the goal to build a multiracial democracy in New Hanover County, while the local chapter of AFL-CIO represents unions, people in the region, advocating for fair labor practices and economic justice.
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