Marshall Pitts Jr.

Pitts first ran for a seat on the Fayetteville City Council in 1997, but lost the election by only 66 votes.[3] However, he staged a comeback and won election to a city council at-large seat in 1999, becoming the first African-American elected to city council in twenty years.[3]

In 2001, Pitts ran for Mayor of Fayetteville against incumbent Mayor Milo McBryde.[3] McBryde, a third generation member of a prominent Fayetteville political family, had served on the city council for twenty-two years on the city council at the time.[3] McBryde had been appointed as Mayor of Fayetteville in August 2000 following the death of longtime Mayor J.L. Dawkins, who died in office.[3] Pitts' 2001 campaign slogan was "Change Is Coming."[2]

Pitts defeated McBryde in the mayoral election held on November 6, 2001.[3] He earned approximately 56% of the vote (11,405 votes), while incumbent Mayor McBryde placed second with 44% (8,979 votes).[3][4] Pitts was sworn into office on December 3, 2001, becoming the city's first African-American mayor.[1][3] He was re-elected to a second term in a mayoral runoff election held on November 4, 2003.[2] Pitts easily defeated his opponent, real estate agent Robert Anderson, in the 2003 runoff.[2] Pitts' 2003 slogan was "Change Is Now."[2]

Under Pitts' second term, areas of adjacent Cumberland County, North Carolina, were annexed into Fayetteville, adding approximately 43,000 new residents to the city's population.[2]

Pitts was defeated for re-election on November 8, 2005, by Tony Chavonne.[5][6][7] Chavonne received around 55% of the vote in 2005.[5] The annexations of new areas into Fayetteville seemed to play a pivotal role in the election.[5] Chavonne overwhelmingly defeated Pitts in the newly annexed areas of the city.[5]