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Forty-six people voted Monday to replace a late Orange County commissioner with a longtime Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board member on the November ballot.
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Rani Dasi, a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, won 66.9% of the 438 weighted votes cast at Monday’s Orange County Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting to replace Jamezetta Bedford, the late District 1 county commissioner.
Bedford, 67, died unexpectedly June 21, far enough in advance of the November election that state law required the county to fill her seat within 60 days. Otherwise, the clerk of court could fill the seat, commissioners have said.
Only District 1 precinct leaders in Chapel Hill and Carrboro were eligible to vote Monday, submitting paper ballots after an hourlong Q&A session with Dasi and the other nominees: Leah Bergman, Pam Hemminger, Maria Palmer, Renuka Soll and Erik Valera.
Dasi’s name will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, replacing Bedford in the District 1 race. Bedford did not face a Republican challenger, so Dasi is the likely winner of a four-year term in November.
District 1 party leaders also nominated Dasi to immediately fill the rest of Bedford’s current term. The commissioners could accept Dasi as their newest member at a special July 28 meeting or choose someone else. Bedford’s term ends Dec. 1.
Precinct leaders did not share their reasons for supporting Dasi.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will announce a process soon for filling her Board of Education seat, Dasi said after the vote. Her four-year school board term runs through December 2027.
“I am so incredibly honored, and I do not take this lightly,” Dasi said, while pledging to “bring my personal experience to this and commitment to continuing to listen and engage and learn.”
“To the other candidates, I appreciate you,” she added. “It was great hearing your comments and your passion and commitment to Orange County, and I know we’ll continue to see you engage as we go forward.”
Dasi, 55, works as vice president of operations finance for RTI International, an independent scientific research institute located in Research Triangle Park.
She has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance and strategic planning, and has been on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board since 2015, including as chair and vice chair. She has also served on the Public School Foundation and Family Success Alliance boards, and been active in other district, state and national education organizations.
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Dasi has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago
In 2021, she expressed interest in being a county commissioner, applying to replace former Orange County Commissioner Mark Dorosin. Former Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP President Anna Richards won the seat but did not seek election to a full term in 2024.
Dasi said her experiences have prepared her for a time when federal and state funding cuts are making it harder for local governments to meet basic needs, and the strain on local taxpayers “is becoming harder to sustain.”
“If selected, I will collaborate with sitting board members to serve the residents of Orange County with a near-term focus on meeting community basic needs and encouraging economic development that expands opportunity and reduces reliance on residential property taxes,” she said.
The school board is also facing critical choices, including an Aug. 20 vote on the future of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and Mandarin language programs at Glenwood Elementary School.
The district is adapting to a smaller student population and tighter budgets, voting in June to close Glenwood as a cost- and space-saving measure. The board now has two options for the future of its dual- and world language programs and students:
Both choices could displace some students who already attend those schools. A group of Glenwood parents asked the district this week to draft a redistricting plan for all elementary school students first to “assess the true community impact” of moving the programs.
District staff had planned to bring an elementary school reassignment plan to the board this winter, with implementation in August 2027, when Glenwood closes.
In response to a question Monday, Dasi said she doesn’t have a specific amount in mind for local schools funding, which the county commissioners set each year.
“In the short term, my focus really would be on how do we keep people in their homes? How do we make sure people have food? How do we make sure people have shelter?” Dasi said, “and thinking about the economic development that enables us to make these investments in other areas like education and other needs that the county has.”
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This story was originally published July 21, 2026 at 8:06 AM.