District
2
Malcolm Graham
Council Member, District 2, Charlotte City Council
- Party
- Democratic
- Office phone
- 704-336-6105
Malcolm Graham represents District 2 and chairs the Budget Committee. Graham called the $50 million housing bond proposal a “non-starter” during the FY2027 budget workshops and has been pressing alongside Anderson for Gateway Station movement. His district includes the West End corridor, one of Charlotte's most active development zones.
As Budget Committee chair, Graham was the central figure in the FY2027 budget process: a $3.65 billion city budget with a $943.5 million general fund and new PAVE Act revenue. He has also been involved in the farmers market UDO change, police staffing debates, and zoning disputes over density.
Part of the I-77 South corridor runs through his district. Graham voted against the toll lane project in May 2026 and for reinstating it in September, after asking staff for a line-item accounting of the state’s repayment claim and a legal opinion on the statute. He called the repayment provision “the poison pill in the state budget.”
In our reporting · 20 stories
Charlotte Approves 10 p.m. Curfew Pilot for Minors, 9-2
Starting Nov. 1, Charlotte residents under 18 must be off the streets by 10 p.m., with exceptions, under a pilot that runs through August 2027. The police chief promised no traffic stops on curfew suspicion alone, a policy CMPD has not yet written.
Facing a $69.5 Million State Bill, CRTPO Brings Back the I-77 South Toll Lanes. Two Mayors Resign From the Board.
The regional transportation board reinstated the $4.3 billion I-77 South toll lane project Wednesday, with a $69.5 million state bill hanging over any town that kept voting no. Matthews and Mecklenburg County voted no anyway, and the mayors of Matthews and Davidson resigned from the board afterward.
Charlotte's I-77 Bill Is $69,577,547.67
The state's claim against Charlotte for walking away from the I-77 South toll lanes is $69,577,547.67, and the money would come out of the fund the city has already programmed for its next affordable housing and public facilities bonds. Council votes Monday on whether to reinstate support, which would erase the bill. The city's own two figures for Charlotte's share have not been reconciled on the record.
Charlotte Council Debates What a Youth Curfew Pilot Would Test
Council approved neither a new curfew nor a pilot Monday. Charlotte's police chief asked to explore a test of the 9 p.m. rule, while members proposed different measures, limits, and timelines.
Charlotte Read DOJ’s Model Cities Fine Print. Some of It Comes Later.
Charlotte has until September 1 to seek a share of nearly $300 million through DOJ’s Model Cities Initiative. Applying requires local signatures, federal collaboration and an immigration certification before certain award terms are available.
The Study Charlotte Wanted on I-77 Takes Five Months. Its Deadline Is in Eight Weeks.
Charlotte has until October 5 to reverse itself on the I-77 South toll lanes or absorb a penalty the legislature wrote in July: a state bill the city attorney puts at $64 million, a freeze on its street maintenance money, and a block on every new state road project inside the city limits. Council members said they could not decide without an independent review. Staff told them Monday that one cannot be finished in time.
Charlotte's Safety Committee Advances a 9 p.m. Curfew for Everyone Under 18
The City Council's Safety Committee voted unanimously to send the full council a single 9 p.m. curfew for everyone under 18, replacing the current age-tiered rules. The change still needs a full-council vote, expected in August. The members who advanced it spent the meeting warning that a curfew alone won't fix what draws teens into the streets.
The Five Finalists for Charlotte Mayor, in Their Own Words
The council interviewed five finalists for interim mayor on June 18 and set the appointment vote for Monday. Here is how each got on the ballot, what they told council about running meetings, the I-77 tolls, and the airport, and how the June 22 vote will work.
Raleigh Wants Charlotte to Repay $60 Million for Killing the I-77 Toll Lanes
A bill in Raleigh, written by Sen. Vickie Sawyer, would require the Charlotte-area governments that voted to kill the I-77 South toll lanes in May to repay the state an estimated $60 million, freeze the decision until 2027, and withhold state highway money until it is paid. Mecklenburg commissioners, briefed June 16, called it a retaliatory power grab.
A 49-Unit Faith in Housing Petition Reached Public Hearing at Council Monday
Mission City Church, Freedom Communities, and the True Homes Foundation walked Charlotte City Council through their 49-townhome affordable-housing petition Monday night. The 5.38-acre Faith in Housing rezoning is petition 2025-027 in District 2, all units sold (not rented), House Charlotte eligible, with a seven-year deed restriction. Council Member LaWana Slack-Mayfield used the floor for what is now her third public Faith in Housing argument of 2026: the program label, she said, is not "an automatic check."
Brendan Maginnis Offers to Serve as Interim Mayor
Brendan K. Maginnis, the runner-up in Charlotte's September 2025 Democratic mayoral primary, has volunteered for the interim mayor appointment, from Copenhagen, where his family moved in January, and with a demographic-counter argument the Mercury did not solicit. By his count, initially approximately 46, revised to 44 in a follow-up email, none of those Democratic elected officials representing Charlotte at various levels are white males. The pitch collides with Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Corine Mack's public call for the council to elevate the Mayor Pro Tem rather than install a placeholder.
Charlotte Council Votes Unanimously for 150-Day Data Center Moratorium. Two Weeks Ago, It Was 5-5.
Two weeks after a 5-5 deadlock that required Mayor Vi Lyles to break the tie, Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to schedule a public hearing on a 150-day moratorium on new data center approvals. The hearing is set for May 26. Council could adopt the moratorium as early as June 8.
A Budget Hearing, an I-77 Reset, Data Centers — and the Question Malcolm Graham Wouldn't Answer
Council convened in special session at 4 p.m. Monday to take up three of Charlotte's biggest active fights, a $4.5 billion budget hearing, a resolution on the I-77 South toll lanes, and the council's first formal floor discussion of data centers. Council Member Malcolm Graham, who chairs the budget committee, was asked twice on television Sunday whether he is a candidate to fill Mayor Vi Lyles's seat after she steps down June 30. Both times he answered with the public hearing.
Vi Lyles Will Resign as Charlotte Mayor on June 30. The Race to Replace Her Already Started.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced Thursday that she will resign on June 30, ending a tenure that began in 2017. Under North Carolina law, the City Council will appoint a Democrat to serve the remainder of her term, and the field is already organizing in public, with former Mayor Jennifer Roberts offering to fill the vacancy and Council Member Dante Anderson breaking for the outsider option. The vote that decides who fills the seat has not been scheduled.
Charlotte's 2024 Housing Bond Is $5.6 Million Over. Staff Wants to Cover It From Supportive Housing, Shelter, and Innovation.
The rental housing production category of Charlotte's 2024 affordable housing bond is now $5.6 million over its allocation goal. To cover the gap, city housing staff are recommending council pull $1 million each from supportive housing and shelter capacity, and $3.6 million from the Innovation Pilot Fund. LaWana Mayfield warned this would happen on April 27.
A 2.5-Million-Square-Foot Data Center Is Going Up off University City Boulevard.
The Charlotte City Council deadlocked 5-5 Monday night on whether to even schedule a public hearing on a temporary moratorium for new data center approvals. Mayor Vi Lyles broke the tie, voting no. Meanwhile a 2.5-million-square-foot, 300-megawatt data center campus is going up at 10800 University City Boulevard, and under Charlotte's current zoning, the council had no role in approving it.
Mayfield votes no on a Faith in Housing petition she built — tells the chamber the label is not "an automatic check"
Council Member LaWana Mayfield built Charlotte's Faith in Housing initiative. Monday night she voted against one of its petitions, and told the chamber from the dais why the label alone doesn't get a project to yes.
Charlotte Council Approves Both Faith in Housing Rezonings.
Council Member LaWana Mayfield, the architect of Charlotte's Faith in Housing initiative, voted against a Faith in Housing petition Monday night. Both rezonings passed. The second carried on the bare minimum: six yes votes, no mayor in the chair.
Gateway Station Charlotte: Why the City's Transit Hub Has Been 25 Years in the Making
Charlotte Gateway Station has $80 million in completed rail infrastructure and no station building. Phase 1 is done. Phase 2 has no start date. Here is why the project stalled, and how the MPTA may finally break the pattern.