Raleigh voters reject Big Real Estate's candidates

It's a great day for those of us who think Raleigh would be a better place if the real estate industry held less sway over city politics.

With election results close to final, it appears that Raleigh's council may be governed by a majority that wants developers to shoulder a greater portion of the costs of growth. Mayor Charles Meeker, who wants higher impact fees on new development and limits on tax breaks for developers, will now have key allies in victorious council challengers Nancy McFarlane in District A and perhaps Rodger Koopman in District B. (Koopman did not win 50 percent of the vote outright, and incumbent Jessie Taliaferro told the News & Observer that she plans to request a runoff.)

McFarlane appears to have defeated incumbent Tommy Craven, himself a developer, while Koopman garnered more votes than Jessie Taliaferro, an incumbent whose campaign was heavily funded by development interests. In the at-large race, incumbent Russ Stephenson, another Meeker ally, has held onto his seat by a comfortable margin. The winner of the second at-large seat appears to be Mary-Ann Baldwin, the director of marketing for Stewart Engineering (a firm involved with real estate development) and a major recipient of developer cash.

According to an analysis by the folks at Below the Beltline, 65 percent of Baldwin's contributions in the last campaign finance reporting period came from development interests. For Taliaferro, that figure was 86 percent, compared to just 10 percent for Stephenson and 2 percent for Koopman. The blog A View of the city puts the portion of Taliaferro's campaign cash that came from development interests in the latest period at an even higher 93.8 percent.

The triumph of smart-growth advocates over pro-development candidates is particularly important this year, as Raleigh is about to kick off the process of updating its comprehensive plan.