Durham’s municipal primary is already underway, with hundreds of ballots cast in the first days of early voting. Bull City voters are making their picks for mayor and city council representatives for wards 1, 2, and 3.
Voters can cast ballots for all of the races, regardless of which ward they live in. The top two vote-getters in each race following Election Day on October 7 will move on to the municipal election in November.
2025 durham primary election at a glance
Voters can make one selection for each race in the primary regardless of what ward they live in. The top two voter-getters in each primary will move forward to the November election.
The 2025 municipal primary for Durham will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Early voting for the primary will be held Sept. 18–Oct. 4.
Find information about when and where you can vote early from the Durham County Board of Elections.
Development and housing affordability are top of mind for voters and candidates alike. In its next term, the city council will preside over a rewrite of Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) which guides land use and development. Council members will also review small area plans, which provide more detailed roadmaps for growth in specific Durham neighborhoods created through a community engagement process. And they’ll help get a new joint city/county effort to rework Durham’s strategy for addressing homelessness off the ground.
Similarly, community safety is a perennial election issue in Durham. Residents have been pushing the city to expand the popular HEART program to respond to more calls involving mental and behavioral health. Although violent crime has fallen compared to this time last year, gun violence is still concentrated in parts of the city.
Following historic flooding this summer from Tropical Storm Chantal, climate resilience has also come up on the campaign trail, especially in the context of increased runoff from development. Recently labor organizers have revived their calls for Duke University to contribute more to the Durham community, and are pushing candidates to commit to furthering that goal.
And this year federal politics are also showing up locally, with the Trump administration pledging to ramp up deportation efforts, singling out Democratic-run cities, and making cuts to federal programs that will force local governments to decide whether and how to make up for lost funding.
Over the past month, INDY has conducted interviews, collected questionnaires, attended forums, and perused candidate websites to bring you a rundown of the crowded field of 18 candidates across the four races. Here’s a look at the candidates, their experience, and their platforms.
Mayor
Incumbent Leonardo Williams is seeking a second two-year term. Williams, a restaurateur and former Durham public schools teacher, served two years on city council before being elected to the mayor’s seat after Elaine O’Neal declined to run for a second term.
Williams says if granted a second term, he would work to increase housing supply and affordable units by negotiating for affordable units to be included in new developments, working with Durham Housing Authority to continue redeveloping its properties to include mixed-income housing, and preserve existing, naturally affordable housing. In his INDY questionnaire, he says next budget season—in light of federal funding cuts—the city will need to expand its public-private partnerships and its tax base through new developments. In response to Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations, Williams suggests putting more of the city’s budget toward supporting immigrant communities.
Williams locked down the support of the three biggest PAC endorsements (the People’s Alliance, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, and Friends of Durham), even as the groups split over their council endorsements.
In office, Williams has often invoked the slogan “Durham is dope,” aiming to lift up positive things about the city. Challenger Anjanée Bell has countered with the tagline “Durham is H.O.P.E” incorporating issues—like housing, economic opportunity, and safety—that critics say Williams’s mantra misses.
Bell is a dance educator, entrepreneur and coordinator for the state’s Arts in the Parks program. She is also pushing her family credentials—she said in an early press release that her father, former mayor Bill Bell, “taught me that leadership is not about power; it is about purpose. I intend to honor that legacy while artfully building a better Durham for everyone.”
On the housing front, Bell is focusing on preserving existing affordable housing, expanding programs to assist longtime homeowners, and pushing for more concessions from developers who come to the city council for rezoning approvals. “I welcome responsible development—predictable, high-quality, climate-ready, and accountable,” Bell wrote in her INDY questionnaire.
Bell wants to see more trees and better stormwater infrastructure in Durham neighborhoods, as well as “age-friendly streets” with longer crosswalk times and curb ramps. She proposes cutting red tape for small businesses trying to open downtown with an “express lane” for permits.
Pablo Friedmann, the director of the Multilingual Resource Center at Durham Public Schools (DPS), has positioned himself as a more progressive alternative to Williams.
On development, Friedmann is an advocate for small area plans that let residents shape their neighborhoods proactively rather than only asking for input after a proposal has been submitted. He describes his approach to leadership as being rooted in “authentic community engagement,” which for him means showing up consistently in community spaces versus relying solely on official forums that can be difficult for residents to attend.
Having managed teams through the COVID-19 pandemic and budget crisis at DPS, Friedmann says he’s “exhausted with hearing excuses for why city government can’t do basic things.” He says Durham needs to get its basic services in order—from emergency services to Durham Housing Authority operations, which he says lack proper council oversight—before touting itself as a model for progressive cities.
“I cannot be going off to England, Puerto Rico [promoting Durham] if we can’t even pick up the phone when you call 911,” he tells the INDY, referencing the mayor’s recent international trips.
Friedmann came in second at the People’s Alliance endorsement meeting after Williams.
Also in the race are imam and activist Rafiq Zaidi, and Lloyd Phillips. Neither has a campaign website or participated in the INDY’s questionnaires or interviews.
Ward 1
In a jam-packed race, incumbent DeDreana Freeman is looking to secure her third term on city council. Freeman was first elected in 2017 after unseating longtime incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden. Before that, Freeman served three years on the Durham Planning Commission, and spent nine years leading community outreach at Durham Children’s Initiative. She made an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2023, finishing third in the primary behind Williams and former state senator Mike Woodard.
On council, Freeman has worked to integrate more equitable practices into city processes for things like infrastructure through the Equitable Community Engagement Blueprint. In 2021, Freeman led an effort to adopt a Tenant Bill of Rights to protect Durham’s increasing population of renters. She continues to prioritize affordable housing, public amenities, and accessible transportation.
One of the city council’s most important accomplishments the past year, Freeman tells the INDY, was passing the $200 million parks and sidewalks bond, an “unprecedented investment in our city’s infrastructure I have been advocating for since 2018.” These investments in infrastructure are part of her larger vision for supporting Durham residents.
“Housing affordability is about more than rent,” Freeman said in her INDY questionnaire. “Keeping fare-free buses, expanding safe bike and pedestrian routes, and lowering transportation costs provide immediate relief. Long-term, Durham must continue to lead with its livable wage, push for statewide efforts to raise wages, and confront the historic inequities that have excluded Black and Brown families from housing stability and wealth-building.”
Freeman’s challenger with the most momentum is Matt Kopac, a business consultant who specializes in sustainability. Kopac currently serves on the Planning Commission, a key advisory board that helped launch the city council careers of Freeman and Nate Baker. Kopac won an endorsement from the People’s Alliance PAC, and a representative for the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People tells INDY that Kopac received “serious consideration,” though he did not secure an endorsement.
On the campaign trail, Kopac has positioned himself as an open-minded candidate on housing and someone who would engage in “good faith discussion.”
“Through my work in public policy, politics, business, and activism, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness good governance in action—and seen the barriers to it,” Kopac wrote in his INDY questionnaire. “While the thing I know best in life is that I have a lot to learn, I have nonetheless gained some perspective. I’ve learned that words are easy, but solving problems is hard. I’ve learned that strong values are essential, but delivering real world solutions typically requires cooperation among people with different perspectives.”
He says the city should “safeguard our urban growth boundary and sensitive environmental areas from encroaching development” and double down on workforce development programs to ensure residents can afford to live in the city.
But Kopac also believes that city zoning rules should “provide the flexibility to allow more small-scale incremental development” as a part of the solution to Durham’s growing housing needs, and not always consider development decisions in a vacuum.
Andrea Cazales, a registered nurse with a recent doctorate, announced her candidacy back in early May and has maintained a highly visible presence on the campaign trail. Cazales says she would approach issues facing Durham with a public health lens and argues this perspective isn’t currently represented on council, despite Durham billing itself as the “City of Medicine.”
During her time at UNC, Cazales worked as a college access instructor for predominantly Black and brown students and participated in mentorship programs like Latinx Ed. While she’s new to the world of electoral politics, Cazales describes herself as a lifelong question-asker; her mother called her preguntona growing up. Cazales spent her childhood helping her Mexican immigrant parents navigate government systems and says this experience would inform her approach to making city services more accessible.
“The biggest compliment I’ve gotten in this process is that a lot of people see their story in mine,” Cazales tells the INDY.
Elijah King, 23, is the youngest candidate in any race but is certainly not the least experienced: he co-founded the Durham Youth Environmental Justice Initiative, helped launch the Durham Neighbors Free Lunch initiative during COVID, and currently serves as third vice chair of both the North Carolina Democratic Party and the North Carolina AIDS Action Network.
King’s campaign is centered on his lived experience with the issues many Durham residents face. His childhood was marked by housing instability, including evictions and periods of homelessness. He currently works as a waiter at Elmo’s Diner to pay the bills while maintaining his civic commitments.
“I am the very person that these people talk about on their website,” King tells the INDY, referring to other candidates’ platforms about helping vulnerable residents. “You know, ‘Oh, we’re gonna help the poor kids, or we want to help the homeless.’ Well, here we go—now you have a chance to give that person a seat at the table.”
Samaria McKenzie is a marketing director and budget consultant and says her experience managing multi-million dollar budgets sets her apart from other candidates: “I strive to be a beacon of integrity in government, and I will bring honesty, financial expertise, and independence to the City Council table,” she wrote in her INDY questionnaire.
McKenzie says one of her top priorities is to “stop subsidizing developers and slow down new corporate-driven projects.” She supports upgrading sidewalks and parks and deeper investments in substance use prevention and treatment.
The final candidate in this race, Sheryl Smith, does not appear to have a campaign website and did not participate in our questionnaire or candidate interviews.
Ward 2
In the least crowded race of the election, Mark-Anthony Middleton is hoping to hold his seat for a third term against challengers Shanetta Burris and Ashley Robbins.
Middleton secured endorsements from The Durham Committee and the Friends of Durham, while Burris snagged an early endorsement from the People’s Alliance and AFL-CIO.
Middleton, a pastor, currently serves as mayor pro tem. He was first elected in 2017, with a background advocating for police reform and affordable housing through Durham CAN. On the council, he has advocated for employing more approaches to addressing gun violence, including ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology, and the city’s Guaranteed Basic Income program, which helps support recently incarcerated people.
Given another term, he says he would push to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and strengthen its flood mitigation infrastructure. He proposes applying a racial equity lens to the city Capital Improvement Plan to reprioritize stormwater improvements in neighborhoods that have historically seen disinvestment.
If reelected Middleton says one of his priorities would be to use the council’s power over zoning decisions to diversify and “green” the city’s housing stock. In his INDY questionnaire, Middleton pushed back on criticism that he, like Williams, has not been exacting enough in rezoning cases.
“Should you take the chance that a better project will come along by voting no?,” he wrote. “Is compliance with the UDO’s minimum standards the fault of the developer not being sufficiently magnanimous or should you have codified what you actually wanted? Times this by 6 other people. Welcome to the Durham City Council.”
Burris has indicated she would apply more scrutiny to proposed developments.
Burris is a training manager at Supermajority, an organization that aims to strengthen the impact of women voters in elections. She has a robust resume of political involvement, including stints as first vice chair and recording secretary for the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and working on the successful campaign of former Durham mayor Elaine O’Neal.
Burris also narrowly secured the endorsement of the People’s Alliance PAC, which she did not pick up in her last run for council in 2023. In that election for three at-large seats, Burris picked up about a quarter of the votes that the winners did.
On policy, Burris says she is interested in building bridges between people and their government and elevating community voices. In her INDY questionnaire, Burris pointed to the process of the controversial Hayti Heritage Square rezoning case as an example of how the council could improve its engagement, as residents were not permitted to speak after the developer withdrew the case.
“The condescending language used by the developer’s representative and certain council members was also deeply disappointing,” said Burris. “Community advocates deserve respect, especially when they take the time to attend an hours-long council meeting to share their perspectives.”
Robbins is an assistive technology manager who works with students and staff with disabilities in higher education. She brings a healthy record of civic engagement to her campaign, having served on Durham’s Citizens Advisory Committee and contributed to accessibility improvements across the city including helping secure the paving of the Hayti Heritage Center parking lot.
Her campaign is entirely self-funded and she is not courting endorsements. An anti-capitalist, Robbins contends that wealth concentration among political donors and the commodification of basic needs like housing prevent the city from making meaningful change.
“I’m running to highlight how inaccessible running for government is,” she tells the INDY. “Too many people have too much money and business and personal interest at stake… which explains why nothing really ever gets done to the level we need to really make some revolutionary changes.”
Ward 3
Chelsea Cook, an eviction defense attorney who worked at Legal Aid before recently joining the faculty at Duke Law, was appointed to the council by a unanimous vote to fill the vacancy left when Williams became mayor. Now she’s asking voters for a full term.
Being a city council member comes with a steep learning curve. In an interview with the INDY, Cook admits to needing a couple of months to ramp up and fully grasp all the nuances of public office. But she’s been a quick study, and her background in housing law and tenant rights has shown up in her scrutiny of rezoning cases and whether the council could secure more community benefits from developers.
In her INDY questionnaire, Cook said that one of her top priorities would be to build a day shelter and more nighttime options for unhoused people.
“Because, statistically, remaining in your home gives you a much higher chance of finding new housing, being employed, and staying out of the criminal legal system, I would prioritize coupling these shelter options with continued eviction diversion funding.”
Cook won an endorsement from the People’s Alliance, and has bootstrapped her campaign. Her campaign website reads, “Outside of standard operating costs, the bulk of our expenditures will go directly to benefiting Durham. At the end of our campaign, all excess funds will be donated to local non-profits.”
Challenger Diana Medoff seeks to bring a different approach to Durham’s housing issues. Medoff has pitched herself as a “relentless problem-solver,” bringing her energy from years of teaching elementary schoolers to Durham politics. “Durham doesn’t need idealists who make perfect the enemy of good,” she wrote in her INDY questionnaire. “We need people who can find real solutions for real, everyday people.”
Medoff wrote that her top priorities are “More housing, more jobs, more safety.” On housing, she argues that the council should seek to increase density in order to create a greater supply. “It is easy, but intellectually lazy and wrong, to cast developers as the villain,” she wrote. “Developers are driven by the same spectrum of motives as any business. All want to turn a profit. All want to be sustainable and stay in business.”
She also pitched that non-“idealist” approach in the ongoing conversation about Duke University’s tax-exempt status. At a recent forum, she said she supported the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) payments, but added that maybe the university could also help through non-cash means. “It was a Duke professor who helped us learn that we had lead in our soil, in our parks. Can they help us remediate? Can they help us innovate?”
Medoff, making her first run for council, secured an endorsement from the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, one of the city’s influential PACs.
She also, as reported by INDY, secured an endorsement from Yes For Durham, a new 501(c)(4) nonprofit that declined to answer questions about its membership, but did initially list a property belonging to Medoff’s husband as its principal office. Medoff wrote in an email to the INDY that her husband was initially involved, but that she has “absolutely no involvement with YES for Durham” and that her husband “has no involvement on the board and has not contributed financially.”
Kopac, Middleton and Williams were also endorsed by the group and have since sought to distance themselves from it.
Durant Long, a student at North Carolina Central University and a service worker since he was 16, is on a self-funded campaign to bring a youthful worldview to the council.
“We are faced with a daunting landscape of economic uncertainty, an increasing AI presence in all aspects of society, and an unravelling social fabric that is being exacerbated every day by social media,” Long wrote in his INDY questionnaire. “As someone who has grown up in the 2000s, I am uniquely qualified to understand how these challenges affect one’s outlook.”
Long has been delivering some fiery soundbites on the campaign trail, calling the relationship between Duke and Durham “parasitic” at a recent forum. On his Instagram, Long posted a video railing against the council for not allowing the public to comment on the controversial Hayti Heritage Square development after the developer, Sterling Bay, withdrew its rezoning request.
“It wasn’t surprising to see the amount of disdain and hatred that Sterling Bay had for the Durham community,” said Long. “What was surprising, however, was to see that our own elected officials voted to erase the voices of all our neighbors who came to speak in support of Hayti.”
Terry McCann, who has taught high school math at JD Clement Early College for nearly 30 years, is running on a platform of fiscal conservatism. As the sole Republican in the election, he opposes the continuation of the free bus service that the city implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and says tax dollars should be directed to other priorities.
McCann’s social media presence indicates conservative views that extend beyond fiscal policy; he has shared posts opposing abortion rights and stating “it is a SIN to live as LGBT.”
Check out the candidates’ responses to INDY’s questionnaires here and stay tuned for ongoing election coverage.
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