Politics

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NEWS 12/2/25 11:21pm

Burlington swears in first female mayor

By Alice Morrissey

Surrounded by friends and family, Burlington’s first female mayor, Beth Kennett, was sworn into office at the Burlington City Council meeting on Dec. 2. The meeting was held in the Hugh M. Cummings High School auditorium, which was filled with Burlington locals and supporters of Kennett. Before adjourning the meeting, Kennett reaffirmed her commitment to being a voice for the people of Burlington. “I’m not here to make your choices; I’m here to work with you to make Burlington the best it can be,” Kennett said.

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NEWS 11/22/25 9:35am

North Carolina budget stalemate enters 4th month

By Miles Hayford

Over four months after the fiscal year began, the North Carolina General Assembly is still yet to pass a state budget. The GOP controls both the House and Senate but disagreements over scheduled tax cuts and state employee raises have divided the two chambers for months. “There’s an old adage in politics, that the other party is the opposition and the other chamber is the enemy and I think you're seeing that,” Western Carolina University political science professor Christopher Cooper said. “Just because you're a member of the same party doesn't mean that you necessarily see eye to eye on some major issues.” 

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NEWS 11/18/25 9:21pm

NC senator visits 6-month-old Medicaid patient amid cuts to insurance and in-home services

By Monika Jurevicius

Paige Davis and her husband Clayton thought they wouldn’t have a baby to bring home when six-month-old Harper Davis was first born, but she's defied the odds since then. NC Senator Amy Galey visited Harper’s home in Burlington on Nov. 17 to learn more about Medicaid cuts that are impacting the family’s access to receiving in-home services for their daughter. “It’s a political issue that feels like innocent families are being caught in the crossfire and that breaks my heart,” Galey said. 

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NEWS 11/18/25 12:54pm

Death penalty advocacy organization screens Racist Roots

By Alannah Klingsporn

The North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty screened a 25 minute documentary in Turner Theater on Nov. 17. The film showed the racial history in North Carolina death penalty cases in the past and present. After the film screening there was a panel with death row exoneree Alfred Rivera. “The newly passed law adds execution methods that we have not used in North Carolina previously,” NCCADP executive director Noel Nickel said “So it's really important for people to understand that reality.”

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NEWS 11/18/25 9:51am

Cable Square residents flood Elon Town Council meeting to voice concerns about dangerous dog

By John McAllister

Elon Town Council’s meeting on Nov. 17 was filled to maximum capacity with many Cable Square residents airing grievances surrounding a deadly dog attack that occurred last week in the neighborhood. Elon Fire Department engineers Austin Durham and Wes Hunt, Lieutenant Isaac Faucette and firefighter James Torbett were awarded with certificates for saving an unconscious Elon University student through CPR. Town council members also discussed the capital investment plan for the town of Elon. The plan goes over the budget for the next 10 years. Town Council member-elect Steve Exum will be sworn in at the next meeting on Dec. 9. 

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NEWS 11/14/25 11:07am

Miembros electos del consejo municipal de Elon y alcalde reflexionan sobre las inquietudes de los votantes y planifican para el próximo mandato

By Kate Gray

El concejal Randy Orwig, que buscaba la reelección, y el recién llegado Steve Exum fueron elegidos para el consejo municipal de Elon, obteniendo el 31,97 % y el 39,88 % de los votos, respectivamente. Emily Sharpe, actual alcaldesa de Elon, ganó su reelección sin oposición con el 98,18 % de los votos. ”No es como una campaña en la que te presentas a un distrito y la mayoría de la gente no te conoce personalmente, solo han oído hablar de ti”, dijo Exum.

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NEWS 11/14/25 10:56am

Elon town council member-elects, mayor reflect on voter concerns, plan for upcoming term

By Kate Gray

Incumbent Randy Orwig and newcomer Steve Exum were elected to the Elon town council, winning 31.97% and 39.88% of the vote, respectively and Emily Sharpe, current town of Elon mayor, won her unopposed reelection bid with 98.18% of the vote. “It’s not like a campaign where you’re running for a district and a majority of people don’t know you personally, they just know of you,” Exum said. “A lot of these people knew me, and I got a lot of good responses. I felt like it was a fun, celebratory unfolding of the day as a new friend would come up, or someone I had worked for or worked with. That small town vibe is pretty satisfying.”

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NEWS 11/13/25 1:22pm

Federal cuts pull $156 million in solar funding from North Carolina

By Elissa Leka

In August 2025 the Trump administration rescinded the funding as part of its reconsideration of former EPA regulations. This action was met with attorney generals of 23 states, filing a $7 billion lawsuit against the EPA, amongst them was North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson. Elon University associate professor of geography and environmental studies Ryan Kirk said it wasn’t just money that was lost in these cuts. “This is stimulus and jobs and economic activity in these communities,” Kirk said. “Which is just one step not being placed for trying to help these communities.”

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NEWS 11/12/25 11:27pm

Elon SGA hosts fall town hall event, showcases individual actions, community transformation

By Kate Gray

The Elon University Student Government Association hosted their fall town hall. More than 80 people attended the event, which was cosponsored by CrossRoads Sexual Assault Response & Resource Center in Burlington and several on-campus organizations, including the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, Department of Health Promotion and Panhellenic Association. “Tonight I saw so many different students from so many different organizations, and that made me so happy to see just a full room of people that were all eager to be here and learn from people who have created such impactful changes in their communities,” SGA Executive President Anya Bratić said.

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NEWS 11/12/25 10:07pm

NC state representatives discuss state budget, redistricting at town hall

By Miles Hayford

Democratic members of the North Carolina House of Representatives engaged with local residents and Elon University students during a town hall hosted by the NC House Democrats, Alamance County Democrats and Elon College Democrats at the Elon Community Church on Nov. 12. Key points of discussion included the state budget stalemate, Medicaid funding and redistricting. “One of our core jobs is simply to pass a budget,” Representative Vernetta Alston said. “So we've left ourselves without doing our jobs, and without a comprehensive fiscal plan for the state. It's really, really tragic and neglectful.”

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NEWS 11/10/25 8:57pm

Government shutdown has rippling effect on local North Carolina food banks

By Emma Perman and Barbara Duran

On Oct. 1 2025, the United States government failed to pass a federal budget bill causing this government to shut down and in turn pausing federal nutritional assistance programs. The shutdown has now reached 41 days, a historic length for the United States. On Nov. 10 the Senate passed a budget bill to reopen the government. The bill will be sent to the House of Representatives to be voted on. “We're starting to actually get into school lunches. If you really delve into SNAP and the funding sources,” Jai Baker, executive director of Allied Churches of Alamance County said. “Not only are we talking about food stamps, we're talking about residual effects.” 

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NEWS 11/6/25 11:38pm

Elon University President, Vice President of Student Life answer SGA questions

By Fiona McAllister

Elon University President Connie Book and the Vice President of Student Life Jon Dooley answered a multitude of questions from Elon’s Student Government Association about general university inquiries. On top of SGA’s questions, Book answered additional questions from Elon News Network about the Roberts Academy. Book did say that Elon University is not paying for any of the academy’s expenses. “If you're talking about cash, we're not doing cash,” Book said in an interview with Elon News Network. “We're definitely giving leadership time and the faculty time to help partner to get this set up. So, from a strategic effort, the university is participating in that.”

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NEWS 11/5/25 1:47pm

El Concejo Municipal de Burlington nombra a un nuevo administrador de la ciudad

By Alannah Klingsporn

El Ayuntamiento de Burlington nombró a Bob Patterson como nuevo administrador municipal, tras la jubilación del anterior administrador, Craig Honeycutt. Según la página web del Ayuntamiento de Burlington, el puesto de administrador municipal es de designación y supervisa las operaciones diarias de la ciudad y todos los departamentos municipales, implementa las políticas del Ayuntamiento y mantiene a este informado sobre las finanzas y los asuntos de la ciudad. "Nuestros objetivos a corto plazo son mantener la plantilla, salarios competitivos, garantizar que contamos con empleados cualificados para seguir ofreciendo un excelente servicio a nuestros ciudadanos en todos los departamentos y, además, proporcionar el mejor uso posible de sus impuestos", declaró Patterson.

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NEWS 11/5/25 1:42pm

Burlington City Council appoints new city manager

By Alannah Klingsporn

Burlington City Council appointed Bob Patterson as the new city manager, as former City Manager Craig Honeycutt retired. The Burlington City Manager is an appointed position that oversees daily city operations and all municipal departments, implements council policies, and keeps the council informed on the city’s finances and affairs, according to the City of Burlington’s website. “Near-term goals are to maintain our staffing levels, competitive wages, make sure we have good quality employees to provide that continued excellent service to our citizens across all of our departments, and also provide the best value for our citizens’ tax dollars,” Patterson said.

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NEWS 11/5/25 12:20am

Alamance County Democratic Party hosts watch party on Election Day

By Trista Panagakos

As polls closed at 7:30 p.m. on election day, candidates, supporters and family members gathered at the Alamance County Democratic Party watch party awaiting results of the 2025 municipal election. Supporters filled Alkimia Mexican Bar and Grill in downtown Burlington to wait for the results to come in. Burlington mayoral candidate Beth Kennett had supporters and family members join her with many wearing sweatshirts and t-shirts from her campaign. “We’ve done all the things, shown up at places in the community,” Kennett said. “If hard work wins an election, we got this, if money, the influence of money wins, we’ve done the work.”

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NEWS 11/4/25 11:47pm

Gibsonville Board of Aldermen member elected as mayor

By Miles Hayford

Bryant Crisp, Gibsonville board of aldermen member, has been elected as mayor of Gibsonville, with 599 votes. The other mayoral candidate, Darian Smith, only received 94 votes, which is fewer than the write-in candidates. Crisp said that it was a tough race but that he was happy with the result. “I believe in doing it the right way, just hard work, hitting every neighborhood, knocking on every door, and we were successful,” Crisp said. “I’m ecstatic right now and just happy to get back to work.”

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NEWS 11/4/25 11:44pm

Burlington elects first female mayor

By Miles Hayford

Newcomer Beth Kennett has won her bid for election in the Burlington mayoral race becoming the first female mayor of Burlington. She earned 4,237 votes, compared to Ronnie Wall’s 3,640. Former Burlington Mayor Ian Baltutis was one of two candidates elected to city council, earning 4,099 votes. Former chief of police in Burlington Jeffery Smythe was also elected with 3,687 votes. Incumbent Harold Owen received the least amount of votes among the four candidates.

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NEWS 11/4/25 11:22pm

Haw River town council candidates elected unopposed

By Miles Hayford

Incumbent Shawn Riggan will rejoin the Haw River Town Council along with newcomer Debbie Brown, who was also elected to the council on Nov. 4. Brown won 57.75% of the vote and Riggan trailed with 41.55% of the vote. Riggan and Brown did not respond to Elon News Network’s immediate request for comment. 

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NEWS 11/4/25 11:16pm

Three incumbents rejoin Mebane Town Council

By Anjolina Fantaroni

Incumbents Montreena Hadley, Tim Bradley and Jonathan White will rejoin the Mebane Town Council following municipal elections on Nov. 4. Hadley received the most votes with 33.27% to reclaim her seat on the council. Hadley said she is looking forward to the next four years. “Continuing the work that I've started with the community, and making my community proud of me, making sure that the citizens of Mebane and all citizens of Mebane have a voice,” Hadley said.

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NEWS 11/4/25 10:55pm

Ossipee Town Council incumbents reelected

By Nia Bedard and Miles Hayford

Incumbents Jim McAdams and Richard Overman were reelected to Ossipee Town Council on Nov. 4. Overman received 14 votes and McAdams won 16 votes. Overman did not respond to Elon News Network’s request for comment. McAdams declined Elon News Network’s request for comment. 

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