Entire Salisbury City Council is re-elected
Published 12:00 am Thursday, November 9, 2023
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Tamara Sheffield was sworn in as mayor pro tem Tuesday night after receiving the most votes of all council members in the 2021 election. Sheffield is the first known openly gay council member to serve in such capacity.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — McLaughlin's Grocery Store Owner Harry McLaughlin Jr. was formally sworn in as a new city council member Tuesday, with his wife, Lalita, holding the Bible.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Mission House Pastor Anthony Smith was joined by loved ones Tuesday when he was adminstered the oath of office for the Salisbury City Council.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Mayor Karen Alexander was joined by loved ones Tuesday when being adminstered the oath of office to the Salisbury City Council as mayor.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Council member David Post was joined by Deedee Wright Tuesday while being adminstered his oath of office with the Salisbury City Council.
(Photo gallery features each city councilor taking the oath of office following their election in 2021.)
SALISBURY — There will be no changes to the Salisbury City Council for this upcoming term as voters decided to retain all members who were on the ballot this year. Mayor Karen Alexander also won re-election since she was running unopposed.
The Salisbury City Council had four total open seats in the 2023 Election. Mayor Karen Alexander received 2,203 votes in the mayoral race. In the city council race, Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Sheffield received the most votes with 1,933, Harry “Mac” McLaughlin received 1,867 votes, Anthony Smith received 1,644 votes and David Post received 1,522.
Shanikka Gadson-Harris ran the next closest race with 951 votes cast. Other vote recipients included Gemale Black, Charles Dean and Ra Hasan with 743, 353, and 177 votes, respectively.
“It feels good to get another chance to serve the people of Salisbury,” Smith said. “I feel like we have a good team, we have a great mayor, we’ve got a lot done in the last two years and the next two years we’ll see a lot more growth and a lot of other good things coming down our way. We have a lot more resources to do things that we want to do to serve this community.”
Though Gadson-Harris is disappointed she did not win a seat on the city council, she knows she did her best and that she is “not done” when it comes to running again for public office. Between now and the next election, Gadson-Harris plans on joining more local boards like the Leadership Academy, meet with more residents, and still be an active Salisbury citizen.
Gadson-Harris pointed out her and her team’s inexperience during this year’s election as an obstacle, but is confident knowing what she knows now, that she will be even more equipped to make a difference in 2025.
“Nobody was experienced, none of us. This was my first time, my treasurer’s first time, my manager’s first time. Next time I’m going to have more experienced help and I’ll be more experienced because of having gone through this,” Gadson-Harris said. “I’m going to continue to learn and this won’t be the last of me.”
