Mark Kleinschmidt | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina | |
| In office December 7, 2009 –December 2, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin Foy |
| Succeeded by | Pam Hemminger |
| Chapel Hill Town Council | |
| In office December 2001 –December 7,2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 25,1970 Scott Air Force Base,Illinois,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Matt DeBellis |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina School of Law |
| Profession | Lawyer,teacher,politician |
Mark J. Kleinschmidt (born March 25,1970) is an American lawyer,teacher,and politician. He served as the Mayor of Chapel Hill,North Carolina,from 2009 until 2015.
Kleinschmidt is the first openly gay mayor in the town's history. [1] He is also the third openly gay candidate to be elected mayor in North Carolina,following Mike Nelson of Carrboro (1995) and Elic Senter of Franklinton (2007). [2]
Kleinschmidt and his twin sister,Michelle,were born on March 25,on Scott Air Force Base in Belleville,Illinois,(although of Scottish and Chamorro descent) to Rebecca Hoover and David Nauta,a (now deceased) Master Sergeant,then adopted by (now retired) U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant and Marge Kleinschmidt,a registered nurse. The Kleinschmidts lived in Hawaii and New Mexico,before settling in Goldsboro,North Carolina,when Mark was 10 years old.[ citation needed ]
Mark Kleinschmidt received a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of North Carolina as part of UNC's first Teaching Fellows class in May 1992. He taught social studies at West Mecklenburg High School within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district. In 1997,Kleinschmidt enrolled in the University of North Carolina School of Law,where he received his J.D. degree in May 2000.[ citation needed ] In 2005,Kleinschmidt completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.
Kleinschmidt was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2001. He served on the council for two terms from December 2001 to December 2009. [3]
In May 2009,incumbent Chapel Hill mayor Kevin Foy announced that he would not seek re-election for a fifth term in office. [4] Foy had served as mayor for four terms from 2001 to 2009. Kleinschmidt,a councilman since 2001,was one of four candidates to announce their candidacies to succeed Foy. In addition to Kleinschmidt,the three other candidates for the 2009 mayoral election were town councilman Matt Czajkowski,former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party Augustus Cho,and patent lawyer Kevin Wolff. [5] Outgoing mayor Foy endorsed Kleinschmidt as his successor in October 2009,shortly before the mayoral election. [5] [6]
Kleinschmidt won the election on November 3,2009,in a race described by local media as a "hard-fought but civil campaign." [7] He narrowly defeated his closest rival,councilman Czajkowski,by just 106 votes. [7] Mark Kleinschmidt was sworn in as Mayor of Chapel Hill on Monday,December 7,2009. [7]
Kleinschmidt easily won re-election to a second two-year term in 2011 with 5,442 votes (77.54 percent). Kevin Wolff placed second in while Tim Sookram came in third. [8] Kleinschmidt won a third term unopposed on November 4,2013,with 89.7 percent of the vote. [3] Approximately 500 voters wrote in write-in candidates,stemming from controversies over development in Chapel Hill's Central West area. [3] Kleinschmidt promised to continue revitalization efforts in the city's Ephesus Church –Fordham Boulevard district during his third term. [3]
Kleinschmidt lost his bid for a fourth term on November 3,2015 to Pam Hemminger. Hemminger received 4,651 total votes,roughly equivalent to 54 percent,to Kleinschmidt's 3,900. After hearing the results,Kleinschmidt expressed his gratitude to the town of Chapel Hill:"I’m grateful to have been mayor of the greatest town in America," Kleinschmidt said. "During my time as mayor,we were able to harness the voices of over 10,000 people who love this town. Thank you all for the greatest gift I could have received in my life in being the mayor of this town." [9]
In February 2018,Kleinschmidt filed to compete in the Democratic primary to serve as Clerk of Court in Orange County. He defeated Jamie Stanford in the May 8th primary. [10] In 2018,Kleinschmidt was elected as Orange County's Clerk of Superior Court, [11] and he was re-elected in 2022. [12]
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Kleinschmidt | 4,006 | 49.49 | |
| Matt Czajkowski | 3,766 | 46.53 | |
| Augustus Cho | 217 | 2.68 | |
| Kevin Wolff | 94 | 1.16 | |
| Total votes | 8,083 | 100 | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Kleinschmidt | 5,442 | 77.54 | |
| Kevin Wolff | 1,243 | 17.71 | |
| Tim Sookram | 292 | 4.16 | |
| Total votes | 6,977 | 100 | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Kleinschmidt | 4,189 | 89.60 | |
| Write-in,E. Thomas Henkel | 244 | 5.22 | |
| Write-in,Matt Czakowski | 40 | 0.86 | |
| Write-in,Nancy Oates | 5 | 0.11 | |
| Write-in,other | 197 | 4.21 | |
| Total votes | 4,675 | 100 | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pam Hemminger | 4,878 | 54.01 | |
| Mark Kleinschmidt | 4,053 | 44.88 | |
| Gary Kahn | 84 | 0.93 | |
| Write-in | 16 | 0.17 | |
| Total votes | 9,031 | 100 | |
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-most populous municipality in the state. Chapel Hill and Durham make up the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 608,879 in 2023. When it's combined with Raleigh, the state capital, they make up the corners of the Research Triangle, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023.
Orange County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 148,696. Its county seat is Hillsborough. Orange County is included in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023. It is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the flagship institution of the University of North Carolina System and the oldest state-supported university in the United States.
Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census. The town, which is part of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill combined statistical area, was named after North Carolina industrialist Julian S. Carr.
Verla Clemens Insko is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Insko has represented the 56th district since 1997. She is a retired health program administrator from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Insko also previously served as a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education from 1977 to 1985 and on the Orange County Board of Commissioners from 1990 to 1994. She has been noted for her progressive policy positions, such as her support for publicly funded universal health care, and stated in a candidate questionnaire, "I believe in an activist government that provides for the common good and protects the vulnerable". On September 15, 2021 Insko announced that she wouldn't seek re-election to the NC House in 2022.
Chapel Hill High School is a public high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is located close to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill High School is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district which contains two other high schools, Carrboro High School and East Chapel Hill High School.
WCHL is a commercial AM radio station in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is owned by the Chapel Hill Media Group and it has a format of news, talk, sports and adult album alternative music. It is a network affiliate of CBS News Radio. Much of its programming is geared towards the Chapel Hill–Carrboro community, with a focus on local news and community-affairs programming. The studios are on South Estes Drive in Chapel Hill.
The State University Railroad is a 10.2 mile railroad spur of the North Carolina Railroad that began offering service from Glenn, North Carolina, near Hillsborough to a point west of Chapel Hill, North Carolina on January 1, 1882.
Franklin Street is a prominent thoroughfare in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Historic Franklin Street is considered the center of social life for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as the town of Chapel Hill.
Carrboro High School is located in Carrboro, North Carolina, United States. It is located close to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carrboro High school is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district which contains two other high schools, Chapel Hill High School and East Chapel Hill High School. Its first year of operation was the 2007-2008 school year. It is the smallest CHCCS high school with total enrollment being 895. The student body makeup is 51 percent male and 49 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 42 percent. Helena Thomas is the principal. She was hired for the position in 2023.
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Pamela Somers Hemminger is an American politician who served as the mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 2015 to 2023. She owns a small real-estate company and previously served on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board of education and the Orange County Board of County Commissioners. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Kevin C. Foy is an American politician and professor who served as Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 2001 to 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As mayor, Foy focused on land-use ordinances and urban planning in the town. He now teaches at North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Lydia E. Lavelle is an American academic and politician. She was the mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina, from 2013 to 2021, and is a professor of law at North Carolina Central University. She was first elected mayor in 2013, after serving on the Board of Aldermen of Carrboro for six years from 2007 to 2013. When she was elected, she became the first openly-lesbian mayor in North Carolina. She served on the board of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition and on the North Carolina Commission on Inclusion, to which she was appointed in 2018. As a law professor, she has researched the effects of anti-discrimination laws on LGBT people.
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Michael R. Nelson is an American politician who served as Mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina from 1995 to 2005 and as a county commissioner for Orange County from 2006 to 2009. Nelson, who is a co-founder of Equality North Carolina, was the first openly gay mayor in North Carolina. At the time of his inauguration, he was one of five openly gay mayors in the United States. When he left his mayoral office in 2005, he was the longest-serving mayor in Carrboro's history.
Allen Buansi is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic member for the 56th district of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Jessica Cooper Anderson is an American public policy analyst serving as the mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, since December 18, 2023. She previously served on the Chapel Hill Town Council for eight years and has worked in the public policy department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2022. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
