Charlotte Mayor VI Lyles won the Democratic primary in the bid for a five-year term, despite her call for her resignation from the horrible light rail stabbing last month and the deaf-dumb remarks many believe she was in the attack.
Ms. Lyles, 72, won 70.7% of the vote on Tuesday, easily defeating her four challengers. Her closest rival, Brendan Maginnis, captured only 12.2% of the vote.
She will face Republican Terrie Donovan and liberal Rob Yates in the Nov. 4 election, but Ms. Lyles is considered a landslide favorite for the North Carolina Democrats.
Her victory comes in the context of a national uproar on August 22, a fatal stimulus from Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, which appears to be an unprovoked attack on the Charlotte Light Rail, an example of President Trump and Republicans committing crimes in the Democratic campaign city.
Ms. Lyles was ridiculed for her gentle reaction to the killing, starting with a statement to Charlotte’s WSOC-TV on August 26 that appeared to prioritize the perpetrators over the victims.
The mayor defends the security of the transit system and expresses “sympathy” for those struggling with psychological problems, adding: “We will never arrest our way out [of] Homelessness and mental health issues. ”
His mother told the station that the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was homeless and diagnosed with schizophrenia. He has also been arrested 14 times since 2011.
“I want to make it clear that I’m not disgusting those who struggle with mentally healthy or unpopular people,” Ms. Lyles said. Tell Joe Bruno of WSOC. “Mental health illness is like this – like any other illness, it requires the same compassion, hard work and commitment as cancer or heart disease.”
She released a surveillance video of Friday’s attack after the Charlotte Regional Transit System released Another statement First, thank the “media partners” for avoiding reposting the video, and then say she is “heartbroken” about “meaningless and tragic losses.”
she The third statementissued on Monday, blamed the crime in a stronger tone on “the miserable failure of courts and magistrates” and said more security and police would be deployed to protect the light rail.
Vi lyles wins Charlotte primary in mayoral reelection https://t.co/lwgzjz4rax
– WCNC Charlotte (@WCNC) September 10, 2025
Those who asked her to resign include Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running for South Carolina governor.
“We don’t need more criminals and twisted criminals ‘compassion’. They need imprisonment. It requires death penalty,” Norman said in a statement Tuesday. “Mayor Lyles should resign. Her statement of concern for the attacker made her unfit to lead major cities.”
He added: “South Carolina should be wary of going to Charlotte, and Mayor Lyles is still in office.”
Ms. Lyles was congratulated by Emily List President Jessica Mackler, which aims to elect a Democratic woman to take office.
Ms. McCler said: “As mayor, she is committed to bringing real results, stability and significant victories to the City of Charlotte.
Ms. Lyles was elected for the first semester of 2017 and was elected in 2019, 2022 and 2023, with a win rate of no less than 37% per game, according to vote.
The 2022 game was postponed due to the 1922 pandemic.
