CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Voters have narrowly elected a Democrat to lead Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city.

With most of the votes counted, Anthony Foxx was leading challenger John Lassiter, a Republican, by nearly 3,000 votes out of 105,000 cast. But Lassiter conceded defeat before the final, unofficial results were released by the Mecklenburg Board of Elections.

Foxx will replace Pat McCrory, a Republican, who is stepping down after 14 years.

Foxx and Lassiter, both lawyers and city council members, promised voters they would focus on turning around the city’s economy.

With the nation’s banking meltdown, Charlotte has lost thousands of financial services jobs. Bank of America, one of the nation’s largest banks, is headquartered in Charlotte.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  – The candidates began their campaigns months ago, and now it’s up to the voters in North Carolina’s
largest city to decide which of them will be the new mayor.

Polls in Charlotte will open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and will close at 7:30 p.m. Democrat Anthony Foxx and Republican John Lassiter are competing to replace Pat McCrory, who is stepping down after 14 years. Foxx and Lassiter, both lawyers and city council members, say their priority as a leader will be turning around the faltering local economy.

With the nation’s banking meltdown, Charlotte has lost thousands of good-paying financial services jobs. Bank of America, one of the nation’s largest banks, is headquartered in Charlotte.

Bev Perdue opened an office in Charlotte and has made a point of visiting the city, but voters there still don’t think she’s been attentive to them since taking office, the PPP says.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The race to be the next mayor of Charlotte is a statistical dead heat, with Republican John Lassiter leading Democrat Anthony Foxx 44-43 in the contest to replace Pat McCrory, the PPP says.

Both candidates are pretty popular with the city’s electorate. 53% have a favorable opinion of Lassiter, with only 22% viewing him negatively and 48% have a positive one of Foxx with 22% holding an unfavorable opinion of him as well. It’s unusual in the increasingly polarized world of partisan politics to see both candidates in a race sporting a better than 2:1 positive favorability ratio.

There are two key groups of voters who may well decide this race: independents and the Democratic voters whose crossover support of Pat McCrory has allowed the Republican to remain mayor of the Democratic city for over a decade. Lassiter has a 47-31 lead with independents, but Foxx has the 59-30 advantage with Democrats who approve of McCrory’s job performance, indicating that he will do a better job of locking up his party’s vote than recent Democratic nominees have.

Voters send conflicting messages about the direction of the city. On one hand McCrory has an excellent 57% approval rating, something that should aid Lassiter, who likely would be an extension of the current administration. On the other hand 59% of voters say that it’s time for change in how the city is led with only 34% saying they’re happy with how things are going currently, a sentiment that Foxx’s campaign should be able to successfully tap into.

So far in the campaign Lassiter has put a heavy emphasis on his experience, while Foxx has been more focused on his vision for the city. By a 60-28 margin voters say that they are more concerned about a candidate’s vision when deciding who to vote for than his experience.

Here are two things each candidate needs to focus on to win:

Anthony Foxx

-One very good piece of news for Foxx is that black voters appear to be motivated to come out this fall- we expect them to make up at least 30% of the electorate. Right now Foxx has a 70-17 lead with them. If he can push that up closer to Obama levels- 90% or more- he’s going to be very difficult to beat.

-Although he’s certainly doing a better job than most Democratic candidates for mayor have done lately of locking up the white Democratic vote, he’s still losing 25% of it to Lassiter at this point. Getting his party more unified around him would go a long way.

John Lassiter

-Right now he’s only getting 62% of the vote from people who approve of Pat McCrory’s job performance. If he can do more to convince those folks happy with the current leadership that he’ll provide continuity his numbers will improve.

-Do a better job of earning support from voters who have a favorable opinion of both him and Foxx- right now the Democrat has a 57-36 lead with their mutual admirers but conceivably those are folks who could go either way- Lassiter needs to get more of them to go his way.

This race looks like it will probably be close right to the end.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Governor-elect Bev Perdue is meeting with business leaders in Charlotte to discuss economic conditions.

A wide range of business leaders will participate in Perdue’s discussion on Tuesday morning, including Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers.

Perdue held a similar meeting Monday with biotechnology executives in Research Triangle Park. Those officials pushed her to create a public-private partnership that could help provide cash to companies struggling to finance their operations.

Perdue has said she will have to make tough choices as she takes on a projected budget shortfall. But she wants to spend most of her time building new jobs and a new economy in the state.

Gov.-elect Bev Perdue will hold an economic roundtable in Charlotte Tuesday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue says she’ll work to improve Charlotte’s roads and reduce the city’s perceived slights from state government.

Perdue made her first public appearance since election night at the Charlotte Chamber’s annual meeting Thursday. Perdue defeated Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory on Tuesday.

The Charlotte Observer reported Perdue also wants to push for a strong presence in the city by Wells Fargo. The bank is buying Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp.

The outgoing Democratic lieutenant governor has promised to set up a satellite office in North Carolina’s largest city after her swearing-in in January. She plans to work there a few days a month.

She said the economy is her top concern and wants an economic recovery package for the state.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senator Barack Obama makes a final stop in the Tar Heel state on Monday, returning to the Charlotte area as part of a barnstorming tour of states the day before the election. 

This will be Obama’s eighth and final trip to North Carolina before Election Day.   Obama was last in North Carolina on Wednesday for a rally in downtown Raleigh. 

Details regarding Monday’s stop have not yet been released.

Leaders of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party have challenged Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue to broadcast her latest campaign ad in Charlotte.