Rob Harrington
Mayor of Charlotte · Sworn in July 1, 2026 · Term through December 2027
The Charlotte City Council appointed Robert “Rob” Harrington interim mayor on June 22, 2026, choosing him 6–5 over civic leader Carrie Cook in a runoff after no candidate reached the six-vote threshold on the first ballot. He was sworn in July 1, 2026, and serves the remainder of Vi Lyles’s term, through December 2027. He had not previously held elected office.
Harrington is an attorney at Robinson Bradshaw and president of the North Carolina Bar Association. He has chaired the boards of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the Levine Museum of the New South, and is a trustee at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Residents who spoke for him before the vote described him as level-headed and, repeatedly, as a connector.
He took over a full agenda: the handoff of transit operations to the regional MPTA, the FY2027 budget, a citywide data-center moratorium, and a new automated red-light-camera pilot. He described the job after the vote as “an 18-month bridge here that is really important … a bridge to the future.” At his July 1 swearing-in he pledged to lead through three lenses: “Trust, order and efficiency, and respect.”
After the regional transportation board reinstated the I-77 South toll lanes in September, Harrington said the city “must move forward together with accountability from leaders for the commitments that have been made, meaningful collaboration, and dedication to sustained community engagement.”
In The Mercury
Charlotte City Council Names Robert Harrington, a Political Newcomer, Its Next Mayor
June 23, 2026 · Appointed 6–5 over Carrie Cook · succeeds Vi Lyles July 1
Mayor Vi Lyles
The mayor Harrington succeeds · resigned June 30, 2026
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