Nancy McFarlane

Nancy McFarlane (born July 20, 1956) is the mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. She was elected to lead the city in the 2011 election, and succeeded Charles Meeker, who had declined to run for re-election to another term. McFarlane is a political independent (called "Unaffiliated" in North Carolina) but ran with the endorsement of the local Democratic Party. She was re-elected by a large margin in 2013, and again in 2015.
Before her election as mayor, McFarlane, a pharmacist and small business owner, served on the Raleigh City Council. She was elected in 2007 and re-elected without opposition in 2009.

Nancy Pletcher McFarlane was born in Washington, D.C., on July 20, 1956 to Jean Pletcher and the late Ralph Pletcher. Joined by her brothers, the family lived in Arlington, Virginia, where McFarlane formed an early impression that the congestion there was a detriment to living quality. “I know what large, poorly planned growth can do to an area,” she said during her 2011 run for mayor.

McFarlane earned a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Pharmacy at the Medical College of Virginia. While there, she met Ron McFarlane, who was pursuing a degree in pharmacy as well. She married him in 1980. In 2010 the McFarlanes received the Distinguished Pharmacy Alumni Award from Virginia Commonwealth University for the contributions they have made to the profession of pharmacy.

After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University, McFarlane worked as a hospital pharmacist in Richmond, Virginia until she and her husband moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1984. She later worked briefly as a retail pharmacist and then spent 15 years at Raleigh Community Hospital (now known as Duke Raleigh North) as a hospital pharmacist while raising her three children.

MedPro Rx

In 2002, after 22 years as a retail and hospital pharmacist, McFarlane launched MedPro Rx, Inc., an accredited specialty infusion pharmacy that provides infusion medications and services to clients with chronic illnesses. “I wanted to provide more than medicine,” she said. “I wanted to offer the support and services that are often lost in bigger companies.” She has built the company into one of Inc. Magazine's fastest-growing companies from 2009–2011. In 2013, McFarlane was named one of the top entrepreneurs in the Triangle region by Business Leader Magazine.

McFarlane won the District A City Council seat in 2007, and ran without opposition in 2009. She served on the Budget and Economic Development Committee and was chair of the Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Policy initiatives

McFarlane has worked with the Coalition to Unchain Dogs which works to mitigate the negative consequences of keeping dogs chained and she initiated the tasking of the City Attorney to draw up the Dog Tethering Ordinance which was unanimously passed by the City Council on March 3, 2009 and took effect July 1 of that year.