Two of Durham’s most influential political organizations announced their slates of candidates for the upcoming elections.
The People’s Alliance PAC and the PAC associated with the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People endorsed in 14 contested races that will be on ballots March 3, including Democratic primaries and the nonpartisan Durham school board general elections, as well as a handful of uncontested races that will appear on ballots in the November general election.
For more explanation on how each PAC carries out their endorsements, check out INDY’s coverage of the 2025 city council elections.
Perhaps characteristically for fickle politics in Durham, the two PAC’s endorsements overlapped in exactly half of the 14 contested races.
For a local candidate, winning that pair of endorsements often means they are set to coast to a comfortable election. It’s less clear what it means for a candidate who wins only one of the endorsements, especially as the influence of and unity within the PACs has waxed and waned over a turbulent era of Durham politics.
Here’s how the endorsements break down:
An Expected Split For Congress
In the race for the 4th Congressional District, which covers all of Durham and Orange counties as well as pieces of Wake and Chatham, the People’s Alliance PAC (PA PAC) endorsed challenger Nida Allam while the Committee PAC endorsed incumbent Valerie Foushee. That mirrors the 2022 split, when Foushee won her first congressional election by nine points.
In an interview with INDY, Floyd McKissick Jr., the Committee’s chair, cited Foushee’s “excellent leadership” as well as her extensive experience serving at all levels of local government before ascending to Congress. Javiera Caballero, a Durham City Council member who is also a PA member, told INDY that Allam, a county commissioner, is, “in this moment in particular, a reflection of what we need broadly.”
A Handful Of High Profile Agreements
The PACs both threw their support behind Myra Griffin for an open Superior Court seat, as well as incumbent Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, incumbent Durham County Superior Court Clerk Aminah Thompson, and incumbent District 22 State Senator Sophia Chitlik.
That endorsement may make things more difficult for Chitlik’s challenger, former city council member DeDreanna Freeman, who most recently won the Committee’s endorsement in her unsuccessful bid to keep her city council seat last year. McKissick said that Chitlik “has done an excellent job in reaching out to her constituents and in really reflecting the voice of her district,” citing Chitlik’s work in helping to launch the state’s first Black-owned birthing center.
A Split Jury On District Attorney And Judicial Candidates
The PA PAC endorsed incumbent Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry while the Committee PAC opted for challenger Jonathan Wilson. McKissick said that not as many people spoke out on Deberry’s behalf during deliberations, while Wilson had a “high level of visibility” as he chaired the Committee’s legal redress subcommittee until he recently became a candidate.
The PACs split their decisions for the Court of Appeals Seat 3 (Committee: James Whalen, PA: Christine Walczyk), District Court Judge District 16 Seat 2 (Committee: Doretta Walker, PA: no endorsement), and District Court Judge District 16 Seat 5 (Committee: Clayton Jones, PA: Christy Malott). That’s a second notable win for Jones this month, as he was recently found not guilty on domestic violence charges.
Durham Association of Educators’ Picks Dominate
The Durham school board is set to get a major shakeup this year. Of the seven seats, four are up for election, and three incumbents have opted not to run.
The Durham Association of Educators (DAE) recruited and endorsed a slate of four candidates with the goal of keeping their hard-fought meet and confer policy. An announcement from the union described their endorsees as “leaders who will not only defend our Meet & Confer policy, but also hold DPS administration accountable to using it as it was designed.”
That’s a not-so thinly veiled reference to the tension of this year’s new (and public) sessions between the superintendent’s team and the union’s leadership. Durham is something of a laboratory right now, with a first-in-the-state policy that is meant to empower workers to give input without violating the state’s ban on public sector collective bargaining.
The superintendent answers only to the board of education, which answers only to voters. If the workers’ union lands four handpicked candidates on the school board, the district’s org chart becomes more complicated.
The DAE previously, in 2022 and 2024, endorsed each of the seven current board members. Those relationships have soured, and the DAE has not been so keen on any of them in the past year, though this year’s crop of candidates seem optimistic about being able to maintain a more positive relationship with the union.
Of the dozen candidates in the race (three for each of the four seats), the PA PAC endorsed the four DAE-backed candidates (Natalie Bent Kitaif, Nadeen Bir, Gabrielle Rivero, and Xavier Cason). The Committee PAC seconded the picks of Bent Kitaif and Cason and endorsed Bettina Umstead (the only incumbent running) and Lauren Sartain.
Early voting ahead of the March 3 election begins February 12. Follow INDY’s election coverage here.
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