Joe re-elected as top vote-getter in Town Council race

Town elects undergrad to council: UNC-CH's Chilton makes history; law professor wins mayoral race

The News & Observer, Nov. 6, 1991, Page A1

CHAPEL HILL -- Chapel Hill voters bolstered their historical ties to the University of North Carolina on Tuesday, electing a law professor as mayor and an undergraduate geography major to a seat on the town council.

In unofficial returns, Kenneth S. Broun, former dean of the UNC-CH School of Law, swept 50 percent of the vote in the three-candidate race for the town's top elected office. And Mark H. Chilton, 21, a UNC-CH senior, took 3,012 votes in the council race. That was enough to defeat eight other candidates and
squeeze into the fourth and final available seat on the board.

The victory surprised the town's political observers: Chapel Hill has never before elected an undergraduate to the board. "I think this race challenged a lot of people's ideas," Mr. Chilton said. "I think some people thought a student couldn't make a serious run and that a student couldn't be qualified."

Mr. Chilton, whose parents live in Raleigh, credited his victory to strong student turnout and his endorsements from the Sierra Club, the NAACP, the Orange County Greens and local newspapers, including The Daily Tar Heel.

The council race drew an unusually large field - 12 candidates. And with the two incumbents emerging as early favorites, the remaining 10 candidates were left to compete for the two last spots.

Incumbents Joseph A. Herzenberg and the Rev. Roosevelt Wilkerson Jr. won easily, with Mr. Herzenberg drawing the most votes at 4,803 and Mr. Wilkerson coming in second with 4,476.

(Editor's note: In addition to running his own race for re-election, Joe was an enthusiastic supporter of Mark Chilton's candidacy for Chapel Hill Town Council in 1991. He was a mentor and adviser to Mark, providing Chilton's campaign with logistical and organizational help, access to donors, and introductions to key contacts on the local political scene. Chilton's victory made him the first undergraduate elected to public office in North Carolina.)