Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin reveals cancer diagnosis, won’t seek third term
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin will not run for a third term.
On Tuesday, Baldwin shared an eight-minute video announcing her decision and the “personal information” behind it.
“Last year I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she said. “I was one of the lucky ones. Mine was caught in stage one. My surgery and follow-up radiation was successful. And chemotherapy was not needed.”
“The experience made me stronger,” Baldwin said. “And, quite frankly, made me even more determined to run again. There’s a reason why people call me a warrior. But then life happened. More life.”
Her husband, Jim, underwent open-heart surgery and a second surgery due to complications, she said in the video.
Her dog, Jack Bauer, was hospitalized the week of his 14th birthday. Baldwin often speaks about her dog and shares stories and images about her dog on social media.
“My biggest fear is that we were going to lose him,” she said.
In the video, she said she was conflicted about whether to follow her heart and run again or her head and take care of her health and her family’s health.
Baldwin said Tuesday she is cancer-free and Jim was doing well. Her dog remains on medications but is recovering.
How long has Baldwin served the city of Raleigh?
Baldwin served on the Raleigh City Council as one of two at-large members for 10 years, starting in 2007.
She declined to run for re-election to her council seat in 2017, and defeated six candidates to become mayor in 2019. She was re-elected mayor in 2022.
What are some highlights of Baldwin’s tenure as mayor?
Baldwin’s tenure has seen controversy, some of it self-inflicted, like the surprise disbanding of citizen advisory councils and the postponing of Raleigh’s municipal election that extended council members’ terms by a year.
Some of the controversy was thrust upon her as the city’s top elected leader. including over mask mandates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and local law enforcement’s handling of protests after the death of George Floyd.
“When you gave me the honor of electing me mayor, in 2019, none of us could have predicted what was about to happen,” Baldwin said in the video. “COVID, George Floyd’s senseless murder and the subsequent civil unrest and how work from home would impact all of us, especially our downtown.”
She’s been criticized for working for and taking donations from developers as she and others made it easier to build denser and different types of homes through the city, and successfully shepherded passage of historic affordable housing and parks bonds.
Construction is underway at the initial projects at Dorothea Dix Park and the first route of the Bus Rapid Transit, and the city, along with Wake County, agreed to spend millions to renovate PNC Arena, the Raleigh Convention Center and Red Hat Amphitheater.
“In the past year, we’ve approved the largest economic development project in the history of Raleigh,” she said. “The $300 million renovation and expansion of PNC Arena, as well as the development of a housing and entertainment district on the site, which will also include workforce housing. The economic impact of Carolina Hurricanes in the arena is significant, about $600 million per year. Imagine what the economic impact will be when we have a $1 billion dollar private investment in this area.”
Her second term was marked by the addition of four newcomers who differed from Baldwin on growth, development and community engagement. This new majority intentionally kept Baldwin in the dark to bring back Citizen Advisory Councils in a vote earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Baldwin was named the inaugural executive director of Cooper Charitable Foundation, a new foundation meant to provide financial grants to people who can’t cover their monthly expenses. The foundation will target low-income residents, and people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.
When deciding whether to run again, Baldwin said there were still things she wished to accomplish.
“I want to continue to work on housing affordability,” she said. “I want to continue to see our transit options expanded. I want to see us build dynamic and equitable parks and a greenway system that’s well connected, bringing people together. And using our incredible, incredible fan base, to build sports as an economic driver.”
Who else is running for mayor and City Council?
Candidate filing for Raleigh mayor and City Council runs July 5-19. The election is Nov. 5. All eight seats are up for re-election.
There is already a crowded field of announced candidates for mayor:
Corey Branch, Raleigh City Council member since 2015.
Janet Cowell, former Raleigh City Council member and former State Treasurer
Delmonte Crawford, activist
Paul Fitts, mortgage broker and former mayoral candidate
Terrance Ruth, NC State university professor and former mayoral candidate
James Shaughnessy IV, pre-law student
Baldwin said she is looking forward to seeing who will run for the mayoral seat.
“We’ve got a lot going for us, and we can’t mess this up,” she said in the video. “We need to support candidates who have experience in government, and who have the know how on how to keep Raleigh moving forward.”
