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Turner's support of the Republican mayor's initiatives made the councilman a target within the Democratic Party, McCrory alleges. "He had a tremendous amount of pressure on him to vote against me, but he was his own man," McCrory says, adding that the pressure Turner got "is a very sad commentary on the state of our local politics."
In 2005, Turner faced a primary challenge from Joel Ford, a paving contractor who went on to chair the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party from 2008 to 2011. Turner beat his fellow Democrat handily, receiving 78 percent of the vote. This was the same year Turner and District 3 saw the opening of the Walmart Supercenter on Wilkinson Boulevard, which added 400 new jobs to the area. The shopping center brought economic redevelopment to the corridor, as well more retail locations.
The following year, Turner teamed with Judge Shirley Fulton and attorney Kevin Murphy to help bring the Charlotte School of Law to his district. "We had this discussion and they introduced me to the people who were bringing the law school here," Turner says. "I was able to meet with the folks and proudly told them that the law school belonged in District 3."
It was during this term that Turner seemingly ruffled the feathers of many Democrats. As chairman of the city's public safety committee, he took part in a caravan to Raleigh along with McCrory to lobby for more criminal justice for Charlotte. That was 2007 — an election year.
McCory took fire from state representatives, including Democrat Beverly Earle, who told CL that year that the caravan was "disrespectful," adding, "Maybe [McCrory] has political ambitions and this is part of some kind of show-and-tell." Her allusion to Turner's presence prompted McCrory to fire back, "Warren Turner is getting blasted." The controversy frustrated Turner, too, who said at the time, "I don't know how this thing turned into a war, this turf battle about party and personal agenda. My concern and my concern only is public safety."
Democrat Norman Mitchell knows what it's like to have his party turn its back on him. After the former county commissioner chose not to support Nick Mackey's bid for Mecklenburg County Sheriff, Mitchell was ousted from his seat in the next election. "One thing about Turner is, if he's with you, he's with you," says Mitchell, who has supported Turner all along, and likewise received Turner's support. When Mitchell's rejection of Mackey led to his own problems in the Democratic Party, "Turner, James Mitchell, Malcolm Graham and Michael Barnes were the only black elected officials who stood by me," he says. "Every other black elected official went against me and supported Mackey. That says a lot about Turner."
But more was said about Turner when the sexual harassment allegations went public. According to the $35,000 report by attorney Valecia McDowell, Turner allegedly told one female employee, "You need a real man to be your motivation." To another, he allegedly said, "The guy you introduced to me, did you say he was your fiancé? I need to know who would marry you!" A third incident — in which Turner allegedly pulled an employee's sweater to waist level — couldn't be verified, according to the report. Still, investigators concluded, "if it occurred, it was sexually harassing in nature."
"It was lies, slander, hatred and jealousy," says Turner, who has remained mostly silent about the report until now. "The only thing they got right was my name. The media helped play that role, the mayor led that role, the city manager, the city attorney played that role. But I can't worry about that. God will deal with that. It's sad that people believe when you print it, it has to be true."
Adding insult to injury, in July 2010 the state Department of Corrections fired Turner from his job as a probation officer, but claimed it had nothing to do with the sexual abuse allegations. The DOC addressed the dismissalin a written statement that read in part, "Mr. Turner did not follow directives from his chain of command."
Turner is the last person McCrory says he could imagine engaging in sexual harassment. But Turner's silence during the months of glaring headlines changed public opinion about him and likely cost him the September primary.
In previous elections, The Charlotte Post, the city's African-American paper, was a staunch supporter of Turner. In the recent election, the paper supported Mayfield.
"He didn't work the community at all, for the most part," says Post publisher Gerald Johnson. "From what we were seeing, the community was responding well from the young lady [Mayfield] who was running. And the events that we were covering, we were seeing her there and he wasn't. And because we were having internal debate about the endorsement process, we decided to invite both candidates in for a debate and he didn't show up."
