{"id":5601,"date":"2021-09-10T11:35:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T11:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=5601"},"modified":"2023-08-21T15:35:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T15:35:33","slug":"durham-elections-oneal-caballero-split-endorsements-whos-backing-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/09\/10\/durham-elections-oneal-caballero-split-endorsements-whos-backing-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham elections: O\u2019Neal, Caballero split endorsements. Who\u2019s backing who?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Durham mayoral race is heating up, and two candidates are emerging as front-runners after winning key endorsements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Former judge Elaine O\u2019Neal has been backed by the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Friends of Durham, and former Mayor Bill Bell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n City Council member Javiera Caballero has received support from Mayor Steve Schewel, the People\u2019s Alliance, and the Durham Association of Educators.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham\u2019s political action committees (PACs) endorsed different candidates for City Council in Ward I and Ward III. The PACs act as trusted advisors for many Durham voters. Some also raise and spend money to promote candidates through ad buys, signs, and mailers.<\/span><\/p>\n Since 2017, the People\u2019s Alliance PAC has spent nearly $240,000 to support chosen political candidates, according to watchdog database <\/span>Transparency USA<\/span><\/a>. The <\/span>Durham Committee<\/span><\/a> has dished out over $165,000, and <\/span>Friends of Durham<\/span><\/a> has expended nearly $20,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Seven candidates are running for mayor, and three City Council seats are up for election. The primary election is Oct. 5. After that, the top two vote-getters in each race will face off in the Nov. 2 general election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n People\u2019s Alliance PAC coordinator Milo Pyne said many members who attended a 400-person online endorsement meeting Sept. 1 wanted the organization to support O\u2019Neal, but the group ultimately chose Caballero in part because of \u201ccontinuity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe agree with a lot of what the current council has done and the initiatives they’ve taken,\u201d Pyne told The 9th Street Journal, pointing out that Caballero would be Durham\u2019s first Latina mayor if elected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The group set continuity aside in the competitive City Council Ward I race, however, endorsing community organizer Marion T. Johnson over incumbent DeDreana Freeman. Freeman received the People\u2019s Alliance\u2019s endorsement during her successful 2017 City Council campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDeDreana has a good record of service, but our members just feel like it\u2019s time for a change, and that Marion has a unique set of experiences working with the community,\u201d Pyne said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>People\u2019s Alliance<\/span><\/a> also endorsed incumbent Mark-Anthony Middleton in the Ward II race, as well as community organizer AJ Williams in the Ward III race.<\/span><\/p>\n While major endorsements are split so far in Ward III, the two candidates — AJ Williams and entrepreneur and former Durham Public Schools teacher Leonardo Williams — won\u2019t be squaring off in the Oct. 5 primary. Their names will appear on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Durham Association of Educators, a local affiliate of major state and national level teachers\u2019 unions, similarly endorsed Caballero for mayor and Johnson in Ward I.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The association\u2019s <\/span>endorsement press release<\/span><\/a> cited Caballero\u2019s experience working with schools and uniquely specific education plans. It also praised Johnson\u2019s \u201cdeep understanding of how white supremacy drives the educational outcome gap\u201d and her advocacy for collective action in schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The group backed AJ Williams for Ward III, but didn\u2019t endorse a Ward II candidate after two of the three people running didn\u2019t respond to questionnaires and interview requests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People endorsed O\u2019Neal in part because she was born and raised in the Bull City.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe understands the history of Durham,\u201d committee chair Antonio Jones told The 9th Street Journal. \u201cShe understands how Durham has grown. She understands who\u2019s been left out of that growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jones said the committee backed Freeman in Ward I because of her track record on equity and expertise in land use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The committee endorsed Middleton in Ward II and Leonardo Williams in Ward III.<\/span><\/p>\n The Friends of Durham — a bi-partisan, Durham-focused PAC made up of community members and business people — <\/span>endorsed the same slate<\/span><\/a> of candidates as the Durham Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Neal\u2019s experience sentencing and offering guidance to people who came through her courtroom qualify her for mayor, Friends of Durham Chair Alice Sharpe told The 9th Street Journal. The group endorsed Middleton for Ward II and Leonardo Williams for Ward III.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For the contentious Ward I race, Friends of Durham is supporting Freeman.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe think she has shown an ability to focus in on issues, and she has grown into her council position,\u201d Sharpe said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham for All, a progressive group of multiracial organizers and activists, is backing Caballero for mayor. The group cited her efforts to expand access to local government by pushing for city materials to be in Spanish in its endorsement page<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Ward I, Durham for All endorsed Johnson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs the current chair of the Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee, she has organized to expand democratic, grassroots decision making in Durham,\u201d the group wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham for All endorsed AJ Williams for Ward III, crediting his work organizing for community-based alternatives to policing, as well as his willingness to fight for workers\u2019 rights and against developers that contribute to gentrification. It did not make an endorsement in Ward II.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham\u2019s two most recent mayors split their endorsements. Bill Bell, who served as mayor from 2001 to 2017, endorsed O\u2019Neal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe knows Durham and its people but, just as importantly the people of Durham also know Elaine,\u201d he wrote in <\/span>a statement<\/span><\/a> posted on O\u2019Neal\u2019s Facebook page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe People\u2019s Alliance<\/h2>\n
The Durham Association of Educators<\/h2>\n
The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People<\/h2>\n
Friends of Durham<\/h2>\n
Durham for All<\/span><\/h2>\n
Former Mayor Bill Bell and Mayor Steve Schewel<\/h2>\n