Overview:

• Early voting runs Oct. 16 to Nov. 1. Election day is Nov. 4

• Fayetteville has candidate forums on Oct. 18 and Oct. 21

• Here is a list of candidates for Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Eastover and Cumberland County’s other five towns

Early voting starts Thursday as the 2025 municipal elections for Fayetteville and the eight towns in Cumberland County enter their final weeks.

To help voters learn more about the candidates, civic groups will host two more election forums in Fayetteville. CityView has also published candidate questionnaires.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Below are details on early voting, absentee voting, voter registration, voter ID, election forums and a list of the candidates.

Early voting: Oct. 16 to Nov. 1

Cumberland County is conducting early voting at these locations and times:

  • Cumberland County Board of Elections office, 227 Fountainhead Lane, Fayetteville. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Friday, Oct. 31.; and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.
  • Cliffdale Recreation Center, 6404 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. weekdays through Friday, Oct. 31.; and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.
  • Kiwanis Recreation Center, 352 Devers St., Fayetteville. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. weekdays through Friday, Oct. 31.; and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.

Vote by mail

Most people who would like to cast absentee ballots by mail must request a ballot no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21. More information and forms are at ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-mail.

Absentee ballots for most people must arrive at the county board of elections office no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Military voters (and their dependents) who vote absentee and Americans outside the United States who vote absentee have a different process and a later deadline for their ballots to be returned to the county Board of Elections office. More information for military and overseas voters is at ncsbe.gov/voting/military-and-overseas-voting.

People voting absentee must submit a photocopy of their ID or complete a form explaining why they cannot submit their ID.

Vote on Election Day

Election day balloting will be from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at voting precincts throughout Fayetteville and the towns conducting elections.

Use this online tool to look up your voter registration, view your sample ballot, and find the address of your voting precinct: vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup.

Photo ID required

Voters will be asked to present a photo ID to vote. Acceptable IDs include North Carolina driver licenses and state-issued IDs, licenses or ID cards from other states (if voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election), military and veteran IDs from the U.S. government, passports, and certain other IDs.

People who do not have an acceptable photo ID may fill out a form to explain why, and then cast their ballots.

More information is at www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id.

Register to vote

Voters must be registered to cast a ballot, and their voter registrations must be updated with their current address.

Voter registration for the Nov. 4 election closed on Oct. 10. But if you missed that deadline, you can still vote early. Same-day registration is allowed at early-voting sites.

More information about voter registration, how to register, how to check your registration, and how to update your registration is at ncsbe.gov/registering.

Candidate forums

There have been multiple candidate forums for the Fayetteville City Council election. Two more are scheduled:

  • 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 400 Campbell Ave., Fayetteville. Presented by the Fayetteville Branch of the NAACP.
  • 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Smith Recreation Center, 1520 Slater Ave., Fayetteville. Presented by Fayetteville Freedom for All, Common Cause North Carolina, and Democracy NC. The video will also be online on Common Cause’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

The Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce conducted a candidates forum on Oct. 14. Watch it here on YouTube.

The Cumberland County Democratic Party held a forum for the Hope Mills elections on Oct. 11. Video of the forum is posted to Facebook: Part 1, and Part 2.

Who is running?

Below is a list of the candidates for the Nov. 4 elections. Names of the candidates who participated in CityView’s candidate questionnaires have links.

Fayetteville mayor

Fayetteville City Council District 1

Fayetteville City Council District 2

  • Malik Davis (incumbent)
  • Gail Morfesis

Fayetteville City Council District 3

Fayetteville City Council District 4

Fayetteville City Council District 5

  • Lynne Bissette Greene (incumbent)

Fayetteville City Council District 6

Fayetteville City Council District 7

Fayetteville City Council District 8

Fayetteville City Council District 9

Hope Mills mayor

Hope Mills Board of Commissioners

Spring Lake mayor

Spring Lake Board of Commissioners

  • Ryan C. Anderson
  • Stachia Arnold
  • Katrina Bell Bratcher
  • Tony Burgess
  • Sona L. Cooper (incumbent)
  • Jackie Lee Jackson
  • Mary C. Jackson
  • Dedra Parker
  • Tyrone Short
  • Fredericka Sutherland
  • Adrian Jones Thompson (incumbent)

Eastover Sanitary District

Eastover Sanitary District Board Members

  • Helen Crumpler (incumbent)
  • Liz Reeser (incumbent)

Eastover Mayor

  • Charles G. McLaurin (incumbent)

Eastover Town Council

  • Wayne Beard, Jr.
  • Kimberly F. McPhail (incumbent)
  • Bruce Sykes (incumbent)

Falcon mayor

  • James Danny Nelson
  • Clifton L. Turpin

Falcon Board of Commissioners

  • Sue Brigman
  • R. Dwayne Dunning (incumbent)
  • Dylan H. Ivey
  • Chip Lucas
  • Chris Stone
  • Phillip J. Walters

Godwin mayor

  • Willie Burnette (incumbent)

Godwin Board of Commissioners

  • George Cooper, Jr. (incumbent) 
  • Scarlet McIntyre Hall (incumbent)
  • Ronald McNeill (incumbent)
  • Dennis C. Smith, Sr.
  • Joseph Smith (incumbent)

Linden mayor

  • Frances Collier (incumbent)

Linden Board of Commissioners

  • Jonathan Collier (incumbent)
  • Barbara C. Denning (incumbent)
  • Michael Hough
  • Ronnie S. Maness (incumbent)
  • (One more is needed for the five seats on the board. Candidates can be written in.)

Stedman mayor

  • Martin (Mardy) Jones (incumbent), July 15

Stedman Board of Commissioners

  • Louis Wood (incumbent)
  • Wilbert Hairr
  • Justin White
  • Michael R. Hall
  • Melinda B. Murray
  • Bradley Roberts
  • Harvey L. Cain, Jr.

Wade mayor

  • Johnny Lanthorn (incumbent)

Wade Board of Commissioners

  • Kevin Herring (incumbent)
  • Beth Ritchie (incumbent)
  • Johnny B. Sawyer (incumbent)
  • George E. Strater
  • Jennifer Dixon Weaver (incumbent)

Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.

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Paul Woolverton is CityView's senior reporter, covering courts, local politics, and Cumberland County affairs. He joined CityView from The Fayetteville Observer, where he worked for more than 30 years.