Vi Alexander Lyles

Vi Alexander Lyles (Democratic Party) is the Mayor of Charlotte in North Carolina. She assumed office on December 4, 2017. Her current term ends on December 1, 2025.

Lyles (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Mayor of Charlotte in North Carolina. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Lyles unseated incumbent Mayor Jennifer Roberts in the Democratic primary and was sworn into office on December 4, 2017, becoming the first black woman to lead Charlotte in the city's history.^[1]

Prior to entering politics, Lyles was an assistant city manager involved in budgeting and government assessment programs. She served two terms on the Charlotte City Council from 2013 and 2017, where she supported an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against LGBT individuals in public accommodations.

As mayor of Charlotte, Lyles pushed for $50 million in funding for affordable housing. She also established a Community Recovery Task Force in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on Lyles' political career:

Biography
Tenure as mayor of Charlotte
Tenure on the Charlotte City Council
Elections
Campaign themes

Biography

Lyles was born in 1952 in Columbia, South Carolina. She received a bachelor's degree in political science from Queens University and a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before entering politics, Lyles was the assistant city manager. She was involved in creating Charlotte's first capital budget and restructuring government assessment programs. She also worked as a consulting director for the Lee Institute and Flynn Health Holt Leadership.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Lyles was the community outreach director for the 2012 Democratic National Convention.^[5] She served two terms on the Charlotte City Council from 2013 to 2017, where she was voted mayor pro tem for two years during her tenure.^[2]

In 2017, Lyles was first elected mayor of Charlotte, winning by 18 percentage points. She was re-elected in 2019 by a margin of 55 percentage points.

Tenure as mayor of Charlotte

Response to coronavirus pandemic

See also: Government responses to and political effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 (North Carolina) and Republican National Convention, 2020

In April 2020, Lyles and the city council formed the Community Recovery Task Force with the stated purpose of supporting families and businesses through the pandemic and helping plan for recovery. The group was focused on three areas: small business, housing, and the airport.^[6]

Lyles also expressed concern with Charlotte hosting the 2020 Republican National Convention in August 2020 during the pandemic. "We have a contract with the RNC to host this convention, but we also have a commitment to our community that we will keep them safe and well," she said in May. "We can't do it if it's not safe. And we've got to follow the directions of our scientists to do that."^[7]

The Republican National Committee announced on June 11 that the first day of the convention would take place in Charlotte before moving to Jacksonville, Florida, for the event's final three days.^[8]

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Lyles was mayor of Charlotte during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Charlotte, North Carolina, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Metro police station.^[9] On May 31, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced he was deploying the North Carolina National Guard to Charlotte. The city of Charlotte disputed the governor's announcement, tweeting, "The National Guard has been in [Charlotte] assisting with COVID-19 response. There are no plans at this time to deploy the National Guard in response to demonstrations."^[10] No curfews were issued.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill.^[11] Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs.^[12] Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident.^[13] The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process."^[13] On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death.^[14]

Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26.^[15] An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.^[16]

On June 3, Lyles hosted a public forum outside of the Government Center, where she and city council members were questioned about the use of tear gas against protesters. Lyles then joined protesters and kneeled for nine minutes in remembrance of Floyd.^[17]

Housing Trust Fund

In April 2018, Lyles said she planned to seek $50 million for the Housing Trust Fund, which subsidizes the construction of private housing for low-income renters in Charlotte. At the time, the trust was funded with $15 million in bonds every two years.^[18] Voters approved the measure in November 2018.^[19]

Tenure on the Charlotte City Council

Response to shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

In September 2016, Lyles proposed a seven-point plan to reduce racial and class divisions in Charlotte following the police-involved shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott.^[5]^[20]

LGBT non-discrimination ordinance

In February 2016, Lyles supported a non-discrimination ordinance that prohibited discrimination in public accommodations—including public restrooms, tax services, and hotels—against LGBT individuals. The measure passed 7-4.^[21] The ordinance was preempted by the passage of H.B. 2, and later H.B. 142.^[20]^[22]

Elections

2023

General election

General election for Mayor of Charlotte

Incumbent Vi Alexander Lyles defeated Misun Kim and Rob Yates in the general election for Mayor of Charlotte on November 7, 2023.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Vi Alexander Lyles (D)	73.6	64,564
	Misun Kim (R)	21.3	18,713
	Rob Yates (L)	4.7	4,087
	Other/Write-in votes	0.4	317

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 87,681
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mayor of Charlotte

Incumbent Vi Alexander Lyles defeated Lucille Puckett in the Democratic primary for Mayor of Charlotte on September 12, 2023.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Vi Alexander Lyles	85.4	20,109
	Lucille Puckett	14.6	3,449

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,558
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Misun Kim advanced from the Republican primary for Mayor of Charlotte.

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Rob Yates advanced from the Libertarian primary for Mayor of Charlotte.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lyles in this election.