Oranges, fruit snacks, chips and water bottles. That’s what Sophia Chitlik, the incumbent District 22 state senator, packs in the snack bags she’s bringing to polling sites this week.
“The people who work at the polls are amazing and often very civically involved, and they’re working all day and talking about your candidacy to voters,” she said in an interview.
Endorsed by the People’s Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Chitlik is on candidate lists that the organizations promote at the polls.
“So Costco plays a big role in electoral victory,” she joked. She goes to at least three polls per day to greet campaign workers and pass out snacks, and she stays at one site for a few hours to talk with voters, she said.
“I love early voting because you will often have actual time and spaciousness to talk to voters, and I think they don’t expect to see their elected officials at the polls, and so, often, people will tell you about policy feedback and stories that are on their heart,” she said.
Chitlik is over a year into her first term representing District 22. In her December constituent report, she touts her work promoting policies for women, children and families, protecting against immigration enforcement, advocating for help for victims of Tropical Storm Chantal, and challenging the Republican supermajority. She has answered over 1,400 constituent emails, the report says.
Chitlik regularly uses social media to reach the community. She writes all of her own posts, she says. Her most recent Instagram video targets parents who may have forgotten about Valentine’s Day, saying, “You’re probably doing just fine. The Republicans can’t even pass a state budget.”
In her 2024 campaign, she criticized then-incumbent state Sen. Mike Woodard, pledging to uphold the governor’s veto more than he had. She consistently voted to uphold Gov. Josh Stein’s veto this session. Now, with abundant endorsements behind her, she said she’s “running positive” against opponent DeDreana Freeman, a former City Council member.
“I think last time was a very unlikely victory in a lot of ways,” she said. “This [time] is about, how do we broaden a coalition and make sure that we’re listening to and lifting up as many voices as possible?”
Her experience with campaigns dates back to her time as a teenager working for Team Obama. After a dissatisfactory first year of college in 2007, she left school to become a field organizer in Virginia. She later worked in government with positions in the White House Presidential Personnel Office and the U.S. Department of Labor.
She pivoted to various education nonprofits and invested in women’s health companies. Once she moved to Durham, becoming a mother “radicalized” her to want to push more progressive policies through the General Assembly, she said.
This session, she passed an amendment that streamlines child care center regulations to avoid delays in opening new centers.
“This actually got from one bill to another bill to another bill, and then signed. So I think it shows the sticking power of relationships and of collaboration and working together to get stuff done for Durham,” she said.
Dr. Amy Bryant, an obstetrician and gynecologist, befriended Chitlik while advocating for reproductive rights with legislators. She has advised Chitlik on how to maximize access to comprehensive reproductive care across the state, including in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion.
“I have no qualms at all about her record of voting and supporting legislation in favor of not just reproductive freedom, but all maternal health,” Bryant said.
State Sen. Lisa Grafstein, who serves with Chitlik on the legislature’s Judiciary and Regulatory Reform Committees, praised Chitlik’s effort and engagement as a freshman representative.
“She really stands out for being very principled and sticking to her values, but also developing working relationships where there’s common interest, even with folks who she may have serious political disagreements with,” Grafstein said.
Chitlik attributes some of her communication skills to parenting her four-year-old son.
“Having a toddler who is not always rational is an incredible preparation for working in the current political context and tackling a Republican legislature,” she said, laughing.
Parenting also helps her empathize with families’ needs, she said.
“I love him so much, but he is not more intelligent or more special than any other child in our community, and what I want for him, which is the ability for me to spend time with him, the ability for him to feel loved and supported…to have a high quality education that is accessible, to have physical safety, I think most parents want that, and a lot of people don’t have that,” she said. “I think it pushes me to fight.”
With voters, Chitlik has faced challenges convincing them she truly cares about Durham after fewer years of residence than her opponent. At a Durham Senior Dems event on Feb. 6, one constituent complained that she never saw Chitlik in the community.
Chitlik has lived in Durham for almost a decade, since 2017, yet she understands the criticism.
“I hear that, and I respect that,” she said. “I know that there are people in our community that are seeing it change, and not always for the better, and my goal as a legislator is to make sure that the people who built Durham will be able to stay in Durham, and that their children will be able to stay in Durham.”
To help make Durham more affordable, she has introduced property tax relief measures for seniors. She added that her husband grew up in Chapel Hill.
“I didn’t move here for a job. I didn’t move here to try it on for size. I moved to Durham to spend my life in Durham, and my whole family lives here now, and I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Early voting ends this Saturday, Feb. 28, and Election Day is on March 3.
Above: State Sen. Sophia Chitlik listens to fellow candidates at a January forum sponsored by the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. Photo by Reece MacKinney — The 9th Street Journal
Sophie Endrud
