{"biography":"Clark Neal Rinehart is a candidate for an at\u2011large seat on the Raleigh City Council in the 2026 general election on November 3, 2026. The race is nonpartisan; Rinehart advanced from the March 3 primary with 12.1% of the vote (13,451 votes) and will appear on the November ballot alongside incumbents Stormie\u202fForte, Joshua\u202fBradley and challenger Sana\u202fSiddiqui [1].\n\nRinehart was born in Miami, Florida; his mother grew up in Guatemala City and his father is from Stark County, Ohio. He earned an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering (University of Miami) and later completed two master\u2019s degrees \u2013 a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology \u2013 at Duke Divinity School after moving to the Triangle in 2009 to attend Duke [3][8]. He has lived in Raleigh since August\u202f2009.\n\nProfessionally, Rinehart has blended engineering, ministry, and entrepreneurship. After serving as a pastor at Edenton Street United Methodist Church and Grace Community Church, he entered the local startup ecosystem, joining The Loading Dock in 2017 and later working with Innovate\u202fRaleigh. He founded LOCAL Coworking, a consultancy that provides fractional management for coworking spaces, and currently serves as interim executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership while operating as a consultant through Coworking\u202fNC, LLC [3][7][11]. He also coaches youth sports in Raleigh parks and has participated in a city\u2011appointed working group on the redevelopment of the former Division of Motor Vehicles site on New\u202fBern Avenue [11].\n\nRinehart\u2019s campaign platform emphasizes five key priorities: expanding the supply of affordable housing, strengthening public safety, investing in robust, multimodal infrastructure, fostering an entrepreneurship culture that supports small\u2011 and medium\u2011sized businesses, and pursuing a \u201cnext\u2011generation\u201d approach that makes Raleigh affordable, green, and vibrant for future residents [1][3][10]. He advocates for living\u2011wage policies for city employees, limits on campaign contributions, and anti\u2011displacement measures to protect long\u2011time residents, especially in historically Black and brown neighborhoods [10][8].\n\nRinehart is married to Laura and they have two children, ages seven and nine. He describes himself as a \u201csocial entrepreneur\u201d and \u201curbanism nerd\u201d who wants to translate his experience in community engagement, economic development, and faith\u2011based service into public\u2011service outcomes for all Raleighites [3][8].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Clark Rinehart - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Clark_Rinehart)\n- [3] [Clark Rinehart](https://www.clarkforraleigh.com/)\n- [7] [Raleigh City Council: Clark Rinehart | 2026 Primary Candidates](https://indyweek.com/news/raleigh-city-council-clark-rinehart-2026/)\n- [8] [Clark Rinehart announces run for Raleigh's at-large city council seat - Axios Raleigh](https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2025/11/24/raleigh-entrepreneur-clark-rinehart-launches-bid-for-city-council-seat)\n- [10] [Clark Rinehart (2026) \u2013 Progressive Democrats of Wake County](https://wakeprogressives.org/clark-rinehart-2026/)\n- [11] [Raleigh Entrepreneur Clark Rinehart Enters Race for At Large Seat | Prism News](https://www.prismnews.com/news/raleigh-entrepreneur-clark-rinehart-enters-race-for-at-large-seat)","campaigns":[{"contest":"raleigh_city_council_at_large","county":"durham","county_count":2,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"City Of Raleigh City Council At-Large"},{"contest":"raleigh_city_council_at_large","county":"durham","county_count":2,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"City Of Raleigh City Council At-Large"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Clark","fullname":"Clark Neal Rinehart","lastname":"Rinehart","middlename":"Neal","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"raleigh_city_council_at_large","contest_title":"City Of Raleigh City Council At-Large","county":"durham","county_count":2,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"wake","office_key":"city_council","office_title":"City Council Member","party":"","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},{"contest":"raleigh_city_council_at_large","contest_title":"City Of Raleigh City Council At-Large","county":"durham","county_count":2,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"wake","office_key":"city_council","office_title":"City Council Member","party":"","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"wake","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"raleigh_city_council_at_large","contest_title":"City Of Raleigh City Council At-Large","county":"durham","county_count":2,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"wake","office_key":"city_council","office_title":"City Council Member","party":"","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"city_council","office_title":"City Council Member","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Clark Neal Rinehart is a Raleigh entrepreneur and interim Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership director running for an at\u2011large City Council seat in 2026, focusing on affordable housing, transit, safety and entrepreneurship.","terms":[],"token":"54dde72b7293157e"}