Pantless Mayor Scandal Grips Mooresville, N.C. — And He's Not Resigning

The fast-growing town of Mooresville, North Carolina — population 53,000, proud home of NASCAR culture — is consumed by a scandal involving its mayor, Chris Carney, who was caught on CCTV footage in a state of undress inside town hall at 12:25 a.m. on October 10, 2024, alongside a female journalist he described as a longtime friend.

Carney, a 54-year-old Republican who has been a local political fixture since 2005 and was elected mayor in 2023, offered an explanation that locals have widely mocked: he met the woman for a margarita after dinner to discuss town business, began feeling violently ill from a bad reaction to alcohol and medication, went to town hall to retrieve his phone and sober up, and removed his pants to clean vomit off them. He has flatly stated, 'There is no sex tape.'

That account is directly contradicted by a federal lawsuit filed this month by Christopher Lee, the town's former director of innovation and technology. Lee alleges he was pressured to resign after insisting the CCTV footage be preserved. His lawsuit describes the video as showing the mayor in a state of partial or complete undress and depicting 'nudity and sexual arousal' — characterizing it as 'uniquely sensitive and politically explosive for Town leadership.' Two other former employees have also sued over alleged retaliation. A judge ordered the footage released last week, but the town immediately appealed to block disclosure.

The town board passed a 4-2 no-confidence vote on April 6, urging Carney to resign. Commissioner Dana Tucker, who led the push, invoked the principle that what you permit, you promote. Carney, speaking from the dais before the vote, acknowledged poor judgment and apologized to his family and community, but has shown no intention of stepping down before his term ends in 2027. Residents on the street range from outraged to amused — one retiree outside a Tractor Supply simply laughed and said, 'How stupid can you be?' — while others call the whole episode an embarrassment to the city regardless of what actually happened.