Charlotte City Council candidate Anthony Foxx

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A week before an election that will shape Chartotte's next mayoral race, Democrat Anthony Foxx said Monday that he's running – regardless of whether he has an incumbent to face.

Foxx, in his second term as an at-large city council member, told the Observer he's sent letters to friend and supporters. He said he's getting the word out now to let people know that he'll run whether or not Republican Mayor Pat McCrory is around to try for an eighth term. McCrory is running for governor in Tuesday's election.

“There's an abiding sense in this community that we're great in a lot of ways, but we can be better,” said Foxx, 37. “I think the case is is going to be made on the issue of vision. It's not going to be a retrospective on 20 years of Pat McCrory. It's going to be about where we're going and who's best prepared to get us there.”

Foxx said he'd make a formal announcement after the first of the year. But he's the first candidate to announce his interest in running for the job McCrory has held since 1995.

Foxx, a graduate of West Charlotte high school, was the first African American student body president at Davidson College. He got his law degree from New York University. He managed the 2004 campaign of U.S. Rep. Mel Watt.

No Democrat has held the office since Harvey Gantt in 1987. McCrory has beaten a series of relatively weak Democratic opponents.

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