The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) has endorsed almost a full slate of incumbents in the 2025 mayoral and city council elections.
The influential committee is backing incumbents Leo Williams for mayor, DeDreana Freeman in Ward 1, and Mark-Anthony Middleton in Ward 2. For the Ward 3 seat, the committee endorsed challenger Diana Medoff over incumbent Chelsea Cook.
Endorsements from groups like the committee can help candidates, especially challengers, distinguish themselves from a crowded field of candidates—because who really has time to study up on all six Ward 1 candidates (well, other than INDY writers)?
The committee’s picks may make things more complicated for Durham voters, though, because the other influential PAC in town, the People’s Alliance PAC, picked an almost entirely different group of candidates. Those picks include Matt Kopac in Ward 1, Shanetta Burris in Ward 2, and Cook in Ward 3.
Only Williams won both endorsements. The restaurateur, seeking his second term as mayor, is facing off against a group of first-time candidates including dance educator and Arts in the Parks coordinator Anjanée Bell and Durham Public Schools administrator Pablo Friedmann.
Durham voters will get to weigh in when early voting begins on September 18. Candidates, meanwhile, have been busy with a full calendar of forums and typing away at the countless candidate questionnaires (including, of course, INDY’s, which you can read for yourself here)!
Floyd McKissick Jr., chairman of the DCABP, tells INDY that the PAC’s political committee of about 60 people interviews candidates before making recommendations to the more than 300 members of the general body, who can reject the recommendations with a two-thirds vote.
This year, the general body did not reject any recommendations, McKissick says.
The candidates, says McKissick, shared “a vision for a stronger Durham, which included expanding affordable housing, uplifting small businesses, making our neighborhoods safer, and building an inclusive community.”
INDY asked McKissick about the endorsed candidates:
On Ward 1:
“The committee gave Kopac serious consideration,” says McKissick. “I think the fact that DeDreana was an incumbent was something that gave her an edge, as well as the fact that she is an African American female and that she is highly visible in the community.”
McKissick added that “the recommended slate is our recommended slate, and we stand behind that slate 100 percent.”
On Ward 2:
In a release, DCABP cited Middleton’s advocacy around “gun violence, economic stability, and an adequate and affordable housing stock.”
On Ward 3:
“I think Ms. Medoff was somebody who the Durham Committee found interesting, intriguing, and able to, perhaps, offer new and unique perspective,” says McKissick. “I think the belief was that she could offer a skill set that perhaps were different from what the incumbent offered.”
On endorsing both Freeman and Middleton despite their past disagreements:
“We’re optimistic that the team that we’ve endorsed can work together with mutual respect, even though they may disagree on issues from time to time,” says McKissick. “We believe that perhaps they can mend fences if they need to be mended. But I think that what you want is a healthy, mutually respectful discord among council members.”
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