A newly formed nonprofit made endorsements in Durham’s municipal primary. But the group, which hasn’t disclosed its leadership, has ties to one endorsed candidate, raising questions about transparency and potential coordination.
Yes for Durham was incorporated as a 501(c)(4) last month. The “about” section on the group’s spare, blue-and-gold branded website urges voters to “replace obstruction with action” and “elect leaders committed to more housing, safer neighborhoods and thriving communities.”
Its slate of endorsements, published September 3, includes incumbent mayor Leonardo Williams and incumbent Ward 2 councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton as well as newcomers Matt Kopac and Diana Medoff, who are challenging incumbents DeDreana Freeman and Chelsea Cook in Wards 1 and 3, respectively. That’s essentially the whole site—slogans about growth, the four candidates’ names and photos, and a donation form.
When asked to identify its leadership, Yes for Durham declined to provide names to the INDY. The organization wrote in an email that it was “founded by a group of Durham citizens who closely follow local politics and recently decided to get involved by establishing the 501(c)(4) to educate voters on policies that matter most to them.” The group said it has an executive director and board, which will be disclosed in official documentation “when the board is fully comprised.”
When Yes for Durham filed for incorporation on August 18, the organization listed its principal office address as 617 Morehead Ave. That property is owned by an LLC belonging to Ari Medoff, who is married to Diana Medoff, one of the endorsed candidates. On September 4, the organization amended its address to 208 Rigsbee Ave, a property in downtown Durham that houses a handful of condos and businesses.
Diana Medoff wrote in an email to the INDY 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.” However, according to Diana Medoff, her husband was initially involved.
“A group of community advocates approached my husband because of his longtime civic engagement. He was excited about a local policy advocacy group and helped initiate the process,” Diana Medoff wrote. “When he found out that it could be perceived as a conflict of interest, he removed himself completely from the organization before the organization decided to make endorsements.”
Bob Hall, former executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a government watchdog group, says the initial address connection “raises questions about coordination” between the nonprofit and Diana Medoff’s campaign, but doesn’t necessarily meet the high bar for what is considered coordination.
“I’ve seen it where they even have the same vendors—same mail house, for example, doing the mailing for the candidate and mailing for the [501(c)(4)] and they still say that’s not coordinated,” Hall says.
Diana Medoff, a former elementary school teacher, filed to run in the Ward 3 election on July 18.
The distinction matters significantly for campaign finance purposes. If a 501(c)(4) operates independently, it can spend unlimited amounts supporting candidates. But if its activities are coordinated with a campaign, that spending would count as campaign contributions, subject to North Carolina’s $6,800 limit per election.
Yes for Durham told the INDY that “There has been no coordination with any candidate or candidate’s campaign and there will not be any coordination moving forward.” The organization wrote that “Mr. Medoff offered his business address as the physical location for the organization upon its creation, and the executive director changed it when hired because Mr. Medoff does not have a role in the organization.”
The language in both Diana Medoff’s website and interviews is similar to Yes for Durham’s messaging. In a July 26 interview with former city council candidate Shelia Huggins, she opened by saying “My name is Diana Medoff. I’m running for city council Ward 3 because I think Durham deserves more.” “Durham Deserves More” is the main banner text on the Yes for Durham website.
Both Diana Medoff’s campaign website and Yes for Durham’s site also contain similar “more” refrains—Diana Medoff’s site calls for “More Economic Development,” “More Housing,” “More for Parks & Recreation,” and “More Safety & Security”; Yes for Durham’s platform includes “more homes,” “more jobs,” “more safety,” “more parks,” and “more accountability.”
Diana Medoff did not directly address the INDY’s question about linguistic similarities.
Endorsements play a pivotal role in Durham elections, with the People’s Alliance and Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People among the most influential groups. Both issue endorsements and support candidates through political action committees (PACs) separate from their main organizations, which are registered as 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) nonprofits, respectively.
The People’s Alliance PAC made its endorsements on August 13—five days before Yes for Durham incorporated—backing Cook in Ward 3 over Diana Medoff and candidate Shanetta Burris over Middleton in Ward 2, along with Kopac and Williams.
The Durham Committee’s PAC announced its selections this past week: Freeman, Middleton, Diana Medoff, and Williams.
PACs must register with the state and disclose their donors and expenditures.
Yes for Durham, however, has chosen to incorporate solely as a 501(c)(4), which can engage in political activity but not as their primary purpose.
“It’s highly suspicious because of that timing,” Hall says, referring to the organization forming less than a month ago and quickly posting endorsements. “Because they’ve only been in existence that long, what other activity could they have done with the money that they’ve raised?”
Yes for Durham has not registered as a political committee with the North Carolina State Board of Elections. The organization wrote that that’s because it “will not engage in activity that requires registration as a political committee.”
When asked how it plans to demonstrate that electoral activity isn’t its primary purpose, Yes for Durham pointed to its about page and stated that its mission is “to elevate conversation around this policy agenda” in “current and future election cycles.”
Hall says that while the IRS could theoretically investigate whether an organization violates its 501(c)(4) status, “there’s not a lot of energy from the IRS that goes into monitoring who is or is not in compliance.” He says that an organization could theoretically spend 100 percent of its resources on electoral activities for two months, then pivot to educational work for the remaining ten months of the year and still maintain compliance.
Yes for Durham doesn’t appear to have social media accounts or to have promoted its endorsements beyond posting them on its website.
None of the endorsed candidates have publicly touted the group’s support. Williams told the INDY he received an emailed notification of his endorsement but doesn’t know who’s involved. Williams, mentioned that he’d looked up the organization’s filing and initially didn’t see how it connected to Ari Medoff, but later learned the address had been amended from a property Ari Medoff owned. Ari Medoff served on the Durham Convention Center Authority after being appointed by former Mayor Elaine O’Neal in 2022. His term expired on July 31, 2025.
“I don’t know who’s behind it, but obviously there can’t [legally] be any association, right?” Williams says. “I think Ari was someone that people were reaching out to for support. I don’t think he’s associated with them or it anymore, but I don’t know. My head has been in the sand trying to run my own campaign.”
Middleton told the INDY he’s “had absolutely no coordination” with Yes for Durham. INDY left a voicemail for Kopac but has not heard back. (Update: After this story published, Kopac told INDY he got a notification of the endorsement as well as an invitation to a mixer “but other than that, I had no contact and no awareness that it was going on or that I was going to be endorsed.”)
It’s unclear if Yes for Durham has raised any money—and if it has, donors would likely remain anonymous.
If the organization raises money specifically for electing candidates, donors might need to be disclosed, according to Hall. But if it raises funds for general 501(c)(4) activities, it can list itself as the sole source when reporting expenditures, keeping individual donors anonymous, a common practice among groups across the political spectrum.
The group appears to be threading this needle. While Yes for Durham’s website displays text beside its donation portal with language that connects giving to the election—“With Election Day on November 4, your support turns a hopeful vision into concrete results. Chip in today!”—Hall says even this election-focused appeal is likely vague enough to avoid triggering donor disclosure requirements.
When asked whether donations were being raised specifically for electoral purposes, Yes for Durham wrote, “No, these funds are being raised to allnow Yes for Durham to advance its policy agenda.”
Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from Matt Kopac.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Mayor Leonardo Williams appointed Ari Medoff to the Durham Convention Center Authority. Medoff was appointed by former Mayor Elaine O’Neal in 2022.
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