On Tuesday evening, a moderator posed a hypothetical to state Senate candidates Sophia Chitlik and DeDreana Freeman: If given a magic wand, what legislation would they dream up for the General Assembly?
“A magical budget,” Chitlik said, earning laughs from the audience.
Her “real progressive budget” for North Carolina would fully fund Medicaid, eliminate the school voucher program, and return income tax rates to 2012 levels, better reflecting “what we think is important as a society, and who we think is important,” she said.
“I love that magic wand, and I would say that I am a magic wand and if elected, all those things would come true,” Freeman responded, to more laughs from the crowd.
Chitlik is halfway through her first term representing District 22, after unseating former state Sen. Mike Woodard in 2024. In that election, she campaigned on her progressive values, experience as a young mother and willingness to vote against Republicans more often than Woodard. Onstage Tuesday, she stressed her follow-through in upholding the governor’s veto 100 percent of the time and in voting against the Republican supermajority.
Freeman served on the City Council for eight years and was an advocate for marginalized groups and a strong voice against rezoning practices. She became embroiled in conflict on the Council in 2023 and narrowly lost her seat to Matt Kopac in November 2025.
The candidate forum, moderated by political podcast host Rashad Sullivan, was hosted by the Durham Democrats, Young Democrats of Durham and Durham Democratic Women. Primary election candidates for sheriff and district attorney also participated earlier in the evening.
On Tuesday, a front-row volunteer holding color-coded cue cards (green for a minute, yellow for 30 seconds, red for “STOP”) reminded candidates of their time limits.
“The same day that I was elected to our state Senate, so was Donald Trump, and since then we’ve been in this existential fight,” Chitlik said in her opening statement. She emphasized protesting extreme immigration enforcement measures and bans on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, while promoting progressive policies like universal child care.
“I am the only Democratic freshman in either chamber to get anything signed into law all year,” she said, referring to her work to reform childcare center regulations.
Freeman, by contrast, was more soft-spoken. She greeted the audience with “Happy Black History Month” and asked if they could hear her.
“I know folks don’t always know who I am or why I sit in these seats, or take on these political fights like I do,” she said. Since arriving in Durham in 2007, she has seen “this very chocolate city become less and less chocolate and even less affordable for everyone,” so she is fighting for affordability and community access to resources, she said.
“It’s not just about childbirth. It’s not just about the beginning, it’s about your entire life, being able to live and work in community, and to be able to support yourself and your families,” she said.
When asked what District 22 needs from its state senator, the candidates gave different emphases.
Freeman said Durham’s state senator should understand the injustice the city faces and how racism and sexism operate.
“These are the things that push me into these rooms and into these conversations,” she said.
Chitlik criticized the General Assembly’s lack of progressive family policies, noting that the legislative body is two-thirds male.
“I’m the only mother of a young child, a toddler, in our state Senate, and so I’m often the literal only person at the table who has any lived experience at all with childcare,” she said.
Calling herself “Durham’s chief fundraiser,” Chitlik touted her advocacy successes and her ability to generate turnout in statewide races. So far, she has received endorsements from 14 state and local representatives as well as organizations including the People’s Alliance, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, and the Sunrise Movement.
Like Chitlik, Freeman emphasized that she is a mother. “It’s that fierceness of understanding as a mother, a twin mom…there’s this sense of, I want to leave this place better than I found it,” she said.
The two candidates stressed the need for on-the-ground connections with constituents. Freeman referenced past experience as a precinct chair with the Durham County Democratic Party, while Chitlik recalled responding to over 1,400 constituent emails personally.
Both women urged more respect and humanity to counteract the cruelty in the state and federal legislatures. Amid resounding applause, they smiled and shook hands before returning to their seats on opposite sides of the auditorium.
The state Senate candidates will continue to attend events and engage with voters as they approach Election Day on Tuesday, March 3.
Above: Photos of DeDreana Freeman (left) and Sophia Chitlik (right) by Jack Regan and Reece MacKinney — The 9th Street Journal
Sophie Endrud
