Though Chelsea Dickey recently moved back to Graham, she is not new to the area. The Alamance County native, worked on revitalizing downtown Graham eight years ago and now wants to do more than that as mayor.

“In having a kid, I feel like having this new being that you’re raising, and I want him to be proud of where we’re raising him, and I want him to be proud of who we are as people,” Dickey said.

Running on a campaign of accountability and transparency, Dickey has plans to continue making Graham a welcoming place, focusing on the small business economy and downtown revitalization.

“I want to be known as a neighbor, representing neighbors,” Dickey said. “I want to be very approachable, and I will be approachable, and I want to listen and prioritize community voice.”

Last election cycle, the current mayor, Jennifer Talley, ran unopposed, and Dickey said she knew if this happened again she would put her name in. She entered herself into the race a day before the deadline. Since then she has been canvassing neighborhoods since August, and has over 200 signs anchored into people’s lawns and two billboards with her name on them.

“That’s a first for me,” Dickey said. “Never been on a billboard before.”

Dickey grew up coming to Graham, especially with her grandfather owning a business downtown. She has spent over ten years as a downtown coordinator and economic developer.

“I’m bringing the expertise to be able to listen to people and craft what we need to do in Graham,” Dickey said.

For Dickey, she says Talley holding the mayor seat is a conflict of interest. Talley and her husband Chuck own E.P Gates Construction & Reality which owns portions of downtown Graham, including landmarks like the Graham Cinema.

“I want to be part of making the world a better place, but she’s always been a conflict of interest for this town, and I needed to give the people an option,” said Dickey.

Jennifer Talley, Alamance County native and Elon alumna, is gearing up for a second term as Graham mayor.

“I’m very protective of our community,” Talley said.

Her and her husband own and run downtown realty business E.P. Gates Construction & Reality and with this came a passion for preserving the historic downtown. They own buildings such as the Graham Soda Shop and the Graham Cinema, but Talley said she doesn’t see this as a conflict of interest.

“If my goal was to make money or my goal was financial wealth, I’ve really done a terrible job,” Talley said. “Really our passion is preserving old historic buildings.”

Besides keeping Graham’s small town southern charm, Talley’s other policies she said she hopes to continue implementing is support for veterans, law enforcement and overall making sure Graham continues to be a safe community.

Since Talley took office, she has also successfully garnered funding for the city.

“We ended up getting a total over overall over the last four years, over $19 million, when you consider our budget is $23 million, that’s very successful,” Talley said.

Recently, Talley secured $600,000 of state funding for crosswalks. On Nov. 4 when locals go to vote, Talley said she hopes they remember how much she loves Graham. She’s raised her two kids here and hopes that they one day do the same with their future children.

“The reason why so many people have come to us to ask us to buy property in the past has been because they trust us,” Talley said.

Talley said she works every single day, including weekends, to make Graham better.