CHARLOTTE — When Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said that he would not run for the third term he was almost guaranteed to win easily, most folks in town figured something big was in his future. The explanation everyone expected officially came on Monday when President Obama announced Foxx, a Democrat, was his choice to join his second-term cabinet as Secretary of Transportation. The White House praised Foxx’s dealing with federal, state, regional and local transportation issues.
Foxx, who turns 42 on Tuesday, is Charlotte second African American mayor, the city’s youngest when he was first elected in 2009. No one in the region is surprised. When the FBI starts vetting you, it’s pretty hard to keep it a secret, especially in a Southern city that can be more like a small town.
