From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Asheville City Councilwoman Kim Roney announced on Sept. 1 that she is running for mayor of Asheville, again.

If elected, she would “be the first openly queer mayor of Asheville,” AI Overview reported on Sept. 15, noting that she “came out as queer in 2020.”

Roney posted on social media on Sept. 1 morning, explaining why she is running.

Roney said she is in favor of more collaborative governance and doing the people's work in public.

Her announcement stated the following:

“What are our plans for investing the $225 million in the recovery funds, what are our plans for dealing with the affordable housing crisis that predates Helene so we come out of this together, better, and what does that mean for our economy because our local businesses are struggling to come back so we really need to diversify our economy so we don’t have to rely entirely on the fragile tourism industry.”.

Her campaign will ofcus on affordability, public safety and climate and neighborhood resiliency, Roney said.

Roney was first elected to the Asheville City Council in 2020. She was re-elected to her council seat last year.

In 2022, Roney advanced out of the mayoral primary and faced off against current Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, but lost.

In August, Manheimer announced she’s running for a fourth term.

The nonpartisan municipal primary election is March 3, 2026. The general election is Nov. 3, 2026.