Margina Mae Baxter

Current office and 2026 campaign

Gina Baxter (whose legal name is Margina Mae Baxter) is a Hendersonville City Council member running for re-election to one of the two at-large council seats in the November 3, 2026 election, alongside fellow incumbent Melinda Lowrance and challengers Jeff Groh and Brett Werner ². She was seated on the council December 5, 2024, after winning a two-year unexpired term in a November 2024 special election, defeating two other candidates ³.

Background and education

Baxter grew up in Hendersonville; at 13 she wrote a letter to the editor about the city's "City of Peace" sign controversy, and has said of the community, "This community raised me. It is my home." ³⁴. She completed her GED and studied early childhood education at Blue Ridge Community College before earning a bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro ⁵.

Career

Baxter has more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit program coordination and family and early-education resource and referral work, including as a preschool teacher ⁵. She currently coordinates a program serving teenage parents at the Children & Family Resource Center ⁴⁶.

Office history

Baxter announced her candidacy for Hendersonville City Council in 2024 and won a two-year unexpired term that November, defeating two other candidates to be seated December 5, 2024 ³. She is running for a full term in the November 2026 general election ¹².

Family

Baxter and her husband own a home together in Hendersonville ⁴.

Sources