Pink Hill moves to even-year elections while La Grange rejects proposal
As local governments in the region weigh whether municipal elections should be held in odd-numbered or even-numbered years, Pink Hill and La Grange have landed on different answers.
Pink Hill voted to move its municipal elections to even-numbered years, while La Grange rejected a similar proposal last week in a 2-4 vote. Jones County made the move to even-year elections several years ago. Kinston has not publicly addressed the issue.
In La Grange, Council members Reid Rouse and Cindy Motsko voted in favor of moving municipal elections to even-numbered years. Mayor Pro-Tem Larry Gladney and council members Albert Gray, Roger Miles and Noah Clark voted against it. Mayor Bobby Wooten did not vote because there was no tie.
“When I was running for election, I had stated that I liked local separate from presidential even years,” said Motsko. “But once I saw the numbers of how we could save the community money by partnering with the even year elections and spreading the cost out, I voted for even years along with Reid Rouse at the March Town Council Special Meeting. My vote was based on saving money for the town.”
The debate in La Grange centered on turnout, cost savings and concerns about how the change could affect local voting.
La Grange Town Manager Shawn Condon said the main reasons expressed in favor of the resolution were “the substantially higher voter turnout and participation in even-year elections, the projected cost savings to the Town, and the view that moving the elections to even years could increase overall participation in Town elections.”
Condon said the main concerns expressed in opposition were “concern about how the change could affect the local voting process, concern about possible impacts on minority voting, and concern that even-year elections could create more voter confusion because of the larger number of candidates and offices appearing on the ballot at the same time.”
Those arguments followed a review of local turnout data from the last four election cycles. In La Grange, turnout was 837 in 2022, 231 in 2023, 1,416 in 2024 and 393 in 2025. The average turnout in even-year elections was 1,126.5 voters, compared with 312 voters in odd-year elections.
The proposal in La Grange would have asked the North Carolina General Assembly to amend the town charter so regular municipal elections would be held in even-numbered years instead of odd-numbered years. It also would have extended current elected terms by one year to make the transition.
Pink Hill, however, moved forward with the change.
Commissioner Michael Whitfield said the town viewed the decision as a practical one for both voters and the municipal budget.
“It seems to be a rare case where everyone wins,” Whitfield said. “The town will save money by sharing the fixed cost of the elections with the county and state. Voter turnout will improve for our town’s elections. And it’s more convenient for the voters.”
With Jones County already on an even-year cycle, and Pink Hill now joining it, the question of when local elections should be held may continue to surface.
As of the writing of this article, the City of Kinston has not officially addressed taking up the debate on even year elections.
