Mayor Joines Won’t Endorse
Winston-Salem’s mayor does not plan to endorse either Democratic presidential candidate before the May 6 primary.
Mayor Allen Joines had previously said that he was leaning toward Barack Obama. But yesterday the Obama campaign released a list of 43 North Carolina mayors who are supporting Obama, and Joines was not included.
“I’m basically just staying without an endorsement,” he told Trail Mix. He said that he is reluctant to take sides publicly because there are many strong supporters of both Obama and Hillary Clinton in Winston-Salem. “I need to be mayor of all the folks.”
Joines is the biggest-city Democratic mayor to stay out of the race. The Democratic mayors of Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro have all endorsed Obama, and the mayor of Charlotte is a Republican.
The list of pro-Obama mayors does include one Winston-Salem official: City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke.
