CHARLOTTE — Democratic incumbent Renee Johnson is facing a challenge from Wil Russell. The winner will serve on the next Charlotte City Council. There is no opposition in November.
District 4 is composed of the northeast section of Charlotte, including University City. The district stretches from The Plaza to the city limits.
For more information on this race, watch this story by the Political Beat:
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The Political Beat asked questions of each candidate in the races. Below are their unedited responses.
Renee Johnson
What is your occupation? Charlotte City Councilmember (District 4) and Founder/Chief Development Officer, Triumph Services (nonprofit behavioral health & peer support). I’m also a Certified Brain Injury Specialist.
Why are you running? To keep centering people over profit and protecting truly equitable housing, preventing displacement, improving infrastructure and transit, and making government more transparent and accountable. Since 2019, I’ve delivered results and ensured community voices drive City decisions.
What is the most important issue and how do you plan to address it? Housing stability and anti-displacement. I advanced the $100M Housing Trust Fund (including homeownership tools), fought for source-of-income protections, supported the Anti-Displacement effort, and built the District 4 Community Coalition to keep residents at the table. I’ll expand preservation, strengthen tenant protections, and pair housing with infrastructure and transit investments.
How are you voting on the sales tax increase referendum for transit and why? I recognize the urgent need to fund safer streets, sidewalks, and reliable transit. I’m undecided and will base my decision on clear, enforceable commitments: equitable investments in historically under-served areas, accountability and transparency, specific project lists and timelines, and measurable outcomes for safety, congestion relief, and access to jobs. I championed Charlotte’s first-ever infrastructure meeting, which laid the foundation for the Strategic Mobility Plan—so I understand the importance of investing wisely and equitably in our future.
Do you support Charlotte City Council’s settlement with CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings? Why or why not? I support resolving leadership matters in a way that protects taxpayers, maintains stability, and upholds accountability. Any settlement should be transparent about costs and terms, set clear expectations for leadership transitions, comply with NC statute, and strengthen public trust. My priority is accountability and fiscal responsibility.
How should Charlotte City Council address working conditions and pay issues raised by the SEIU at Charlotte Douglas International Airport? The Charlotte City Council can strengthen our procurement policies to set clear standards for the vendors whom we contract, since we cannot directly control the wages of private employers. The effort to advance this conversation was blocked because there was opposition by 1 or more councilmembers; consequently, our rules require a majority vote in order to place an item on the agenda when there’s opposition. That should concern all residents, because it limits debate and essentially amounts to censorship of issues that deserve a public hearing. I will continue pushing for fair standards and a more transparent, democratic process on the council.
What sets you apart from your opponents? Experience, independence, and results. I fight for the anti-displacement of residents impacted by Charlotte’s explosive growth, while my opponent is a developer who benefits personally from that same development. I created the District 4 Coalition, secured ASL interpretation for 132,000 hard-of-hearing residents, and championed the city’s first public infrastructure meeting. As a nonprofit leader with real estate experience, I understand both economic growth and the human impact of displacement.
Will Russell
What is your occupation? Senior Construction Manager
Why are you running? I am running for office to provide leadership and professionalism to Charlotte City Council. My goal is to serve the city and its residents by solving problems and enacting solutions.
What is the most important issue and how do you plan to address it? I address the affordable housing crisis every day – it is at the core of what I do as a construction professional. As an affordable housing developer, I experience firsthand the barriers our current zoning policies create. These restrictive regulations prevent us from building the volume of affordable housing our communities urgently need. We must add greater flexibility to our zoning policies to allow for more diverse, higher density and cost-effective housing solutions. Housing options like duplexes, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and pocket neighborhoods will allow us to create communities when developing land. These are the types of units we, as a city, should be incentivizing developers to build.
How are you voting on the sales tax increase referendum for transit and why? As Charlotte continues to grow, it will need a transportation system that grows with it. Our bus system is not sufficient or dependable enough to meet the needs of its citizens. To produce an equitable and reliable bus system, it must provide connections between the employment centers and residential areas. It must also have travel times that, at a minimum, match the travel times of a private vehicle. To do that all existing bus routes must be reconfigured to provide cross-town connections and facilitate multiple connections throughout the routes. Additionally, the hours of operation must be the same for all routes. The transit tax will provide an income stream that will allow Charlotte to invest in building a transportation system thatwillmeet the needs of a growing city. However, income alone will not fix transportation in Charlotte. We must also create land use policies that complement and encourage appropriate development along transportation corridors.
Do you support Charlotte City Council’s settlement with CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings? Why or why not? Based on the publicly available evidence, it appears that the CMPD’s police chief employment status was threatened by an elected official. This could have potentially exposed the City to legal issues. Problems between elected officials and city departments should be resolved in ways that do not expose the city to potential legal actions. As a member of the city council, I would work to ensure that issues like these are resolved through proper channels and proper communication.
How should Charlotte City Council address working conditions and pay issues raised by the SEIU at Charlotte Douglas International Airport? Charlotte City Council will need to work with multiple groups to help address working conditions and pay issues at Charlotte Douglas Airport. Charlotte would need to work closely with the North Carolina General Assembly to determine what authority the State will allow the City to exercise when dealing with pay and contract issues. Charlotte City Council would also need to work with airline carriers and airport businesses to help craft a solution to address the pay and working condition issues.
What sets you apart from your opponents? I am the most qualified candidate for the following reasons: -vast knowledge of zoning policy, affordable housing, and construction -proven ability to collaborate with neighbors and developers to directly benefit District 4 -Will provide visionary leadership and continued advocacy for District 4 on council -minimal learning curve/ability to start addressing Charlotte’s issues on day 1.
(WATCH BELOW: Action 9: Man switched phone companies because of promotion, but says carrier didn’t follow through)
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