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Candidates begin filing for 2026 elections

The 2026 election cycle officially began in North Carolina on Monday as the filing period for candidates opened.

Several candidates filed Monday for two open seats on the New Hanover County Commission.

Democratic City Council Member Salette Andrews and School Board member Judy Justice both filed to run for commissioner positions, as did incumbents LeAnn Pierce (R) and Rob Zapple (D).

Roundtable: Wilmington's anti-camping ordinance and the issue of homelessness

Councilmember Andrews stated she opposed the ordinance as it failed to address the root causes of homelessness, and that it undermined the constitutional protections of free speech, assembly, due process, and equal protection.

Andrews added her own amendment to remove the word occupy from the text of the document, claiming that criminalizing the act of taking up space in public could be deemed a violation to civil liberties. Even with her own touches added, Andrews still thinks it misses the mark. It doesn't help a single unhoused individual get to any kind of shelter or other services, and there are ways that it erodes our civil liberties.

Restaurant owner Billy Mellon says he encounters a lot of unhoused people downtown on his early morning walks and then on the way to his restaurant, Manna, on Princess Street.

“I recognize several of them. I've never had an issue with any of them. They're staying to themselves.” He says it's not really the homeless who cause trouble. If anything, it's juveniles and drunk tourists vandalizing his property.

In Mellon's defense, Councilwoman Andrews says these behaviors are indeed unacceptable, but they aren't necessarily a symptom of homelessness. “You know, we just have to enforce the laws that we have on the books and be sensitive to that.”

“But really, the only answer to homelessness is housing, and that's where we really, really have to put our efforts.”

When the ordinance was first brought to the table this year, Mellon spoke to the council. He said, “Empathy goes a long way,” and said he wasn't sure whether the ordinance was the right move, but he urged that something still needs to be done to protect businesses and employees.

And at the roundtable, he felt like the city still had work to do on this. The council has to weigh the concerns of nuisance behavior and the well-being of this vulnerable population.

“It's definitely a balancing act,” says Andrews, but she doesn't think the ordinance is the answer.

“I think we do have to separate the two issues, that there's definitely crime that happens in a growing, popular downtown, and it's a good place for people who are unsheltered to ask for money, which, by the way, is perfectly legal.”

In addition to a new shelter, council member Andrews says there's just a general need for more affordable housing.

Here she is recounting how Alan Serkin, the executive director at the Cape Fear Council of Governments, and Dr. Tom Dalton, the founder of a local tiny home community for the chronically homeless called Eden Village, explain homelessness like a game of musical chairs.

“So imagine that you have 10 of your friends and there's 10 chairs and somebody starts music and they remove one of the chairs.

“Now, just so happens that your friend, one of your friends, is on crutches because he just broke his foot. So when the music stops, everybody finds a chair except for your friend with the broken foot. So what was the cause of him not finding a chair? And a lot of people would say, well, it was his broken foot.

“But the fact is, is there just weren't enough chairs. That was the problem. And that's the problem that we have right now.

“There isn't enough housing for everybody to be housed.”

New Hanover Veterans Council hosts annual Veterans Day ceremony

City Councilmember Salette Andrews was the featured speaker at the event and spoke about her time as an officer in the Air Force.

She also shared her experiences as a mother of a son who was actively serving when he died.

“I’m reminded that freedom has always depended on people willing to serve something greater than themselves and that, my friends, is the legacy of every veteran here today,” Andrews said.

North Carolina City Rejects Factory Expansion Over Contamination Fears

Wilmington Councilmember Salette Andrews told Newsweek the council's decision "reflects our deep concern about the ongoing contamination of the Cape Fear River and the risks posed by PFAS chemicals to the health of our residents."

PFAS pollution is something very close to the heart of Andrews who shared that she lost her 22-year-old son to cancer, who was exposed to significant amounts of PFAS chemicals while stationed in Iraq when he was in the U.S. Army, local news station WECT reported.

She said he was exposed to "the toxic burn pits and the firefighting chemicals, which are nothing but PFAS."

Wilmington Councilmember Salette Andrews told Newsweek: "For years, people in Wilmington and across the region have been unknowingly drinking and cooking with water contaminated by PFAS discharged from that plant. While it’s difficult to link individual illnesses directly to PFAS exposure, residents have reported elevated cancer rates, thyroid disorders, and developmental issues—conditions that are consistent with the known health risks of these compounds. Families have lost confidence in the safety of their tap water, and that loss of trust has its own lasting harm. At this point, Chemours should not be allowed to expand its operations until it can demonstrate, with transparency and independent verification, that it can operate without releasing PFAS into the environment.

Protecting public health must come before corporate growth."

She added: "We also need stronger state and federal regulation of PFAS. North Carolina must adopt enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water and hold polluters financially responsible for cleanup, testing, and medical monitoring. The science is clear, and the public deserves action that matches the scale of the threat."

When asked if she was hopeful the council's resolution could spark statewide change in the regulation of PFAS chemicals, Andrews said: "I am cautiously hopeful."

"The growing public awareness, bipartisan concern, and recent federal steps by the EPA to designate PFAS as hazardous substances give me some optimism that meaningful reform is possible—but it will take continued public pressure and political will," she added.

Wilmington City Council rejects Chemours expansion amid PFAS fears

Wilmington Council member Salette Andrews submitted the resolution of opposition after losing her 22-year-old son to cancer.

Andrews said her son, an Army veteran stationed in Iraq, was exposed to toxic burn pits and firefighting chemicals containing PFAS.

“I lost my 22-year-old son to cancer. He was a veteran. He was in the Army, stationed in Iraq. And he was exposed to the toxic burn pits and the firefighting chemicals, which are nothing but PFAS,” Andrews said. “Pollution is personal to me.”
Read more at WECT.

Wilmington City Council unanimously pass resolution opposing expansion of Chemour’s Bladen County facility

Councilwoman Salette Andrews introduced the resolution.

Andrews is a cancer survivor. She said preventing further pollution of the river has always been a focus of hers. “It was a campaign promise of mine that anything that I could to protect our drinking water and really any part of our environment from harmful chemicals or any toxins that would affect human health, that I would do that,” Andrews said.
Read more at WWAY.

Council considers resolution against Chemours, as testing reveals unregulated PFAS in river

“My goal in introducing this resolution is to give voice to the deep concern shared by Wilmington residents and our regional partners about ongoing PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River and our drinking water supply,” Andrews told Port City Daily. “We have a moral and civic responsibility to speak out when new industrial activities threaten public health.”

Although NCDEQ’s Division of Air Quality has the sole authority to review and approve Chemours’ application, Andrews said the resolution “sends a clear, unified message that our city expects regulators to uphold strong environmental standards and to put public health ahead of corporate expansion.”

“I believe there is strong awareness on council of how this issue affects Wilmington residents and our regional partners,” Andrews stated.

“Companies that profit from industrial processes must also take full responsibility for the environmental and health consequences of those activities,” Andrews wrote. “Polluters — not taxpayers — should bear the cost of cleanup and prevention. Wilmington residents deserve clean water, transparency, and corporate accountability.”

How the 2026 election could shake up leadership across New Hanover

Andrews said her decision to run for county commissioner stemmed from New Hanover’s rapid growth and the sense that some people are being left behind.

“The current majority on the commission cut $36 million from the county budget in June,” Andrews said. “They slashed funding for affordable housing, nonprofits, pre-K classrooms and about 100 public service jobs. I want to invest in families, protect our environment and ensure that all this great growth we’re having works for everybody.”

Regardless of which board she serves on, Andrews says that she plans to work to resolve tensions across party lines, as well as improving the county-city relationship. New Hanover and Wilmington leaders have clashed in recent months on major issues such as affordable housing and homelessness.

“I think that we need to put that aside and work to restore balance, accountability and frankly compassion to our government and realize that we’re doing things that affect people’s lives every day,” Andrews said. “When we listen to our residents and work together, we can really get results.”
Read more at StarNews.

Salette Andrews discusses running for county commissioner

Wilmington City Councilwoman Salette Andrews spoke with WWAY for the first time since announcing her campaign to run for County Commissioner next year earlier this month.

Andrews was elected to the City Council in 2023, with her term lasting until 2027.

She plans to focus on issues like a lack of affordable housing, healthcare, and transportation.

She said she’s always pushed to get people more involved in local government.

“I’ve worked hard to increase public participation in Wilmington and I’d like to continue that with New Hanover County,” Andrews said. “I’ve increased the number of speakers at call to audience.”

Starway Village opens with 400+ applicant list, hailed as affordable housing ‘template’

Council member Salette Andrews, who recently filed to run for New Hanover County Commissioner in the 2026 election, told Port City Daily Monday she wanted to bring the city and county back together to solve community issues, particularly housing.

Andrews said she would love for Starway to be the template, even if done on smaller scales due to the lack of large vacant parcels remaining in the city.

Current city council and school board members plan to run for NHC county commissioner in 2026

Two seated officials, Wilmington City Council member Salette Andrews and New Hanover County Board of Education member Judy Justice, are planning to run for county commissioner in 2026, according to paperwork filed with the county’s board of elections.

Andrews and Justice, both democrats, submitted Statement of Organization forms on Friday, October 10, listing New Hanover County Commissioner as the office they planned to seek next year.

Andrews won her seat on Wilmington City Council in 2023, and her term will end in 2027.

If Andrews is successful, since she serves on a non-partisan city council, state statute says her replacement would be appointed by council.

Seeking one office while holding another is allowed in North Carolina.

Wildlife crossings garner widespread support from local leadership in North Carolina

On Tuesday, September 23rd, Environment North Carolina Advocate Emily Mason hosted a virtual briefing to demonstrate widespread support seen across North Carolina for wildlife crossings. During this briefing, a sign-on letter supported by 53 locally elected officials in support of the effort was released. Emily was joined by Councilmember Salette Andrews of Wilmington and Travis Wilson, the Eastern Department of Transportation (DOT) Habitat Conservation Coordinator for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. At the briefing, Councilmember Andrews explained that wildlife crossings are a proven and practical solution.

In North Carolina, from 2020-2022, almost 60,000 animals on roads were killed. Wildlife crossings pose a solution to these collisions, creating safe passage for wildlife and drivers.

Read more at Environment North Carolina.