Full name: Elijah King
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: https://www.elijahkingfordurham.com/
1) In 300 words or less, please give our readers your elevator pitch: Why are you running? Why should voters entrust you with this position? What prior experience will make you an effective member of the Durham City Council?
Equity is currently, but can’t be a buzzword. It has to be baked into how we lead, who we listen to, and what we’re willing to fight for. That’s why I decided to run. Because I’m tired of being a bullet point on somebody else’s campaign website. I’m tired of being told they’re fighting for us without it making an actual difference in our lives. I’m running because the incumbent has had 8 years to meaningfully improve conditions for working folks like me, and it hasn’t happened. I’m running because I’m tired of folks from Durham’s wealthiest neighborhoods winning elections simply because they have the money to make it happen. I’m running because Durham is too expensive, and folks like me are ending up displaced, in prison, or gone from us too soon.
But I’m also not just bringing lived experience to the table. I’m bringing years of meaningful political and activism experience. I’m bringing my experience as Third Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I’m bringing my experience as a co-founder of the Durham Neighbors Free Lunch Initiative that was able to partner with small businesses and local farmers to deliver around 60,000 meals. I’m bringing my experience as the co-founder of the Durham Youth Environmental Justice Initiative. I’m bringing a proven track record of being able to build coalitions across communities to get things done.
2) What would your priorities be as a member of the city council? Please identify three of the most pressing issues Durham currently faces and how you believe the city should address them.
My priorities on City Council are housing, economic opportunity, and safety.
1. Housing. With nearly 7,000 evictions in 2024 alone and 47% of Durham tenants housing cost-burdened, the issue of affordable housing could not be more important. In order to meaningful improve our housing costs, Durham must protect tenants and invest in eviction diversion, build deeply affordable and attainable housing, and ensure new development serves everyone, not just the wealthy few.
2. Economic opportunity. Durham needs to invest in our people through job training and investing in our small businesses. This means removing the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs, including small business voice in governance, and ensuring that our existing economic programs are not only available, but accessible.
3. Safety. While overall crime is down in Durham, youth crime is up. This is a clear indicator that we must invest in our youth. Creating meaningful afterschool and mentorship programs for our youth doesn’t just make us feel good; it can literally save lives.
3) What’s the best or most important thing the Durham City Council has done in the past year? Additionally, name a decision you believe the city should have handled differently. Please explain your answers.
The Durham City Council took an important step by making buses fare-free again. This reaffirmed their commitment to forward-thinking transportation and to building a city that truly works for everyone. It ensures that all residents—whether lifelong Durhamites or new arrivals—can fully engage with and benefit from everything Durham has to offer, including access to economic opportunities.
One decision I believe our city should have handled differently is the ShotSpotter Pilot Program. I understand the need and desire to try new tools to keep our neighborhoods and neighbors safe, but in this case the results weren’t clear and many in the community, instead of feeling safe, felt unheard. Too often, investments life this end up creating more mistrust rather than actually reducing violence. I believe those funds could have been better served putting those resources into proven community solutions, such as working to fund and create affordable and accessible youth programs that build the pipeline from education to career, certification and trade programs, affordable housing, and other solutions that get to the root of the problem. Public safety shouldn’t just be responding to gunfire quickly, it should be making sure people don’t feel the need to pick up a gun in the first place. Of course this isn’t easy, but it is a future worth investing in.
4) President Trump is working to ramp up deportations and curtail visas. At the same time, the state legislature has passed laws requiring cooperation with ICE. What do you think Durham officials can or should do to ensure safe, welcoming communities for immigrants in light of these policies?
Let’s look at the facts: In 2023, Durham County’s local economy was valued at over $41.6 billion. Our immigrant neighbors make up about 15% of Durham’s population. These are Durham’s workers, business owners, and neighbors. They are part of the fabric of our city and our shared success, and they are part of what makes Durham, Durham.
While some are pouring energy into political division and fear, Durham has the opportunity to lead with courage and compassion. Everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and protected. We can make that happen by providing resources to local businesses so they know what steps to take if ICE enforcement arises, and by ensuring city services are accessible and welcoming to all residents.
I believe one of the City Council’s most important roles is to be an ambassador in the halls of the legislature. We need leaders who will challenge unjust state and national laws, defend local control, and push for statewide reforms that protect immigrant rights and promote inclusive policies.
5) Federal funding cuts this year have hit the Triangle particularly hard, from canceled grants to layoffs, and local government officials are having to make difficult decisions about what to fund and how. What are your ideas for how the city can prioritize competing funding needs, close funding gaps, and balance the financial burden on residents?
Durham is at a crossroads. Federal funding cuts have hit our region hard, and the city is facing tough decisions about what to fund and how. The basics of public safety, housing, parks, and city staff should come first. Beyond that, every dollar matters, and how we spend it reflects who we are as a city. Every spending choice should ask, “Does this help the families who need it most, or just make life easier for those already comfortable?” Equity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a tool we can use to make real, measurable differences in people’s lives.
Growth and development should benefit the whole city, not push long-time residents out. At the same time, we can stretch dollars further by partnering with nonprofits, small businesses, and universities, but no single budget line can do it all. Residents shouldn’t just see the numbers; they should help shape them. Participatory budgeting is how we make the city accountable and inclusive. Durham doesn’t have to choose between financial responsibility and progress. If we’re bold enough to treat the budget as a tool for equity, not just survival; we can build a city that doesn’t just get by, but gets better.
6) As climate change leads to more intense rainfall, communities are at greater risk of inland flooding, such as the historic floods in parts of the Triangle caused by Tropical Storm Chantal in July. How would you like Durham to address climate resilience, particularly flooding?
Durham has to face the reality that climate change isn’t coming; it’s already here. And it’s hitting our neighborhoods hard. Flooding from storms like Tropical Storm Chantal shows that our infrastructure and planning aren’t enough to protect every resident, especially those in the most vulnerable areas. I want Durham to approach climate resilience not just as an engineering problem, but as a community effort. That means investing in stormwater management, green infrastructure like permeable streets and restored wetlands, and updated zoning that prevents new development in high-risk flood zones.
It also means supporting residents before disaster strikes, through education, emergency planning, and accessible resources for those at greatest risk. We need to make sure every neighborhood, not just the wealthiest, is protected, because climate resilience is a matter of equity and survival. By planning ahead, working with local nonprofits and community groups, and centering equity in every decision, Durham can protect everyone who calls it home.
7) Describe what sustainable growth and development mean to you. Additionally, what is another municipality you believe has made smart decisions related to growth and development that could be similarly implemented in Durham?
To me, sustainable growth and development means building a city that works for everyone—today and tomorrow. It’s growth that creates economic opportunities without displacing longtime residents, that improves infrastructure and transit while preserving green space, and that balances new development with environmental responsibility. It’s about investing in neighborhoods equitably, ensuring that every resident benefits from Durham’s success, and designing our city so future generations inherit a place that’s resilient, vibrant, and inclusive.
One municipality I think Durham could learn from is Portland, Oregon, which has used a mix of zoning reforms, urban growth boundaries, and investments in transit-oriented development to manage growth thoughtfully. Portland has focused on increasing density in existing neighborhoods while protecting natural spaces, and has prioritized affordable housing alongside development to prevent displacement. Adapting similar principles here in Durham—centering equity, transit access, and environmental sustainability—could help our city grow without leaving anyone behind.
8) Downtown Durham continues to see growth, with large commercial developments and hundreds of new housing units, yet businesses say they’re still suffering. How would you reinvigorate this major business district?
I started this campaign with a small business tour, and it’s clear that Downtown Durham has grown fast with big buildings, new apartments, and cranes everywhere. But if that growth isn’t helping the folks who built this city, then it’s not real progress. Right now, too many small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open while the skyline changes around them.
For me, reinvigorating downtown means putting our energy back into those businesses that carry Durham’s soul. It’s not enough to just say “shop local.” The city should be actively promoting our small businesses, making it easier for them to access resources, and listening to what they need to survive and grow.
Durham doesn’t just need more buildings; we need spaces that give everyone a chance to reinvest in their community, that feel alive with our food, our music, our makers, and our culture. That’s what makes downtown Durham more than just a business district. That’s what makes it home.
9) The City of Durham is realigning its homelessness services. What can or should the city be doing to support this growing population, especially in light of recent changes to state law governing encampments and financial pressures on service providers?
It is heartbreaking to see homelessness growing in our community. I know how destabilizing housing insecurity can be. I moved eleven times before I turned eighteen. Homelessness isn’t a personal failure; it’s a policy failure, and we have a responsibility to act.
I’m encouraged that Durham is vying to join the 158 communities in the Built for Zero movement, but commitment alone isn’t enough. We need tangible results. That means investing in safe shelter, affordable housing, peer support, and renter protections, while also redesigning how our local response system works.
When I began my small business tour, one of the biggest concerns I heard was access to City Council officials and the growing challenge of homelessness downtown. Our businesses, our neighborhoods, and most importantly our unhoused neighbors are asking for not just a listening ear, but leadership. We have a real start, but there’s still a long way to go, and I’m ready to do that work.
10) According to the Triangle Community Foundation, there’s a mismatch between the price point of housing units available in Durham and what Durham renters can afford, amounting to a nearly 25,000-unit deficit for low-income renters. What can the city do to ensure Durham housing is affordable for current and future residents
Durham has a nearly 25,000-unit shortage for low-income renters, and I know firsthand what housing insecurity feels like. That’s why I believe housing can’t just be a policy debate — it has to be personal. We need bold partnerships with county commissioners, state lawmakers, advocacy groups, and developers who are serious about making Durham affordable again.
But let’s be clear: housing isn’t just about building new units. It’s about dignity. Too many families are living in homes with doors barely hanging on hinges or in neighborhoods left behind. We need to raise wages alongside housing supply, repair and revitalize the communities people already live in, and actually listen when residents say what’s working and what’s not.
This is about more than numbers on a page. Behind every number, every statistic, and every graph is a life. This is about making sure Durham stays a place where working people, seniors, students, and everyone in between can call home.
11) For some residents, gun violence remains a persistent issue even though shootings and other violent crimes are currently down from last year. How would you rate the progress the city has made and what are your ideas for improving public safety?
Durham has made some progress on reducing gun violence, but numbers alone don’t tell the full story. The only difference between me and the young people I grew up with—whose lives were cut short or ended up in jail—is opportunity.
When people aren’t pushed to the margins, when they can afford basic needs, don’t have to worry about their next meal, and can get to work or find work, they don’t just survive; they thrive and reinvest in the city they love. That’s why my approach to public safety is all about opportunity: making sure every young person has access to youth programs, mental health support, affordable housing, and real pathways to jobs. If we get this right, Durham can be safer not by policing alone, but by giving people the tools and support they need to build lives they’re proud of.
12) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
I’m running to tackle the big challenges Durham faces: affordable housing, public safety, and climate action, but this isn’t about me, it’s about all of us. The people I grew up with, the neighbors I see every day, and the communities too often pushed to the margins. Your voices, your ideas, and your concerns will guide how I lead on City Council. Let’s build a Durham where everyone has a shot, everyone is safe, and everyone can thrive. We do it together.
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