Vacant

Commissioner Matt Calabria stepped down from his District 2 seat to take a position in Gov. Josh Stein’s office.

There is a process to fill a vacant seat on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, which is outlined in state law. The process is as follows:

• The executive committee of the relevant political party will nominate a qualified person to fill the vacancy. Once the Board of Commissioners receives the candidate’s name, it has 30 days to vote on the nomination.
• If the board does not approve the first nomination, it will request a second nomination from the political party’s executive committee. The board will vote on the second candidate within 30 days of the nomination.
• If the second nominee is not approved after a vote, the board may appoint any person who meets the eligibility criteria within 30 days of that vote.
• If the Board of Commissioners is unable to approve an appointee within 30 days of the second party nominee vote, a special primary election will be held for the appropriate party to fill the vacancy.
   

The current District 2 vacancy requires a nomination from the Wake County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee. If approved by the board, the appointee will serve as the District 2 commissioner for the rest of Commissioner Calabria’s term, which expires in December 2026.

The next full, four-year term for District 2 is December 2026 to December 2030. The 2026 election cycle will be the first in which the District 2 commissioner is elected by voters in the district, not the whole county. The filing period runs Dec. 1–19, 2025. The primary will be March 3, 2026, and the general election will be Nov. 3, 2026.

When Commissioner Calabria resigned from his seat, he was also serving as chair of the Board of Commissioners. Until the board elects a new chair, Vice Chair Mial will assist with the duties of the chair.