Candidates backed by the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) swept the school board on Tuesday, marking a shift in power—and experience—on the board at a contentious time between the workers’ union and the district.
Four of seven seats on the Durham Public Schools Board of Education were on the ballot. Those races were nonpartisan elections not primaries, so the winners will be sworn in in July.
With four newcomers voted in, more than two decades of collective experience will exit the board. Only one incumbent, Bettina Umstead, sought reelection, and she was defeated in her District 2 race by Nadeen Bir, who won with a comfortable 61% percent of votes cast (Umstead, in second place, had about 27%).
Bir works in human resources and finance for a media collective and co-founded Mothers for Ceasefire. Umstead served two terms on the board and served as chair from 2020 to 2024.
In District 1, Natalie Bent Kitaif secured about 68% of the vote. Bent Kitaif, who is heavily involved in Durham schools as a parent, has a research and public health background. In addition to the DAE, she locked in endorsements from the People’s Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PACs. Dilcy Burton, an assistant attorney general, came in second place with 21%.
In District 3, Gabby Rivero won about 52% of the vote. K-12 education policy professor Lauren Sartain came in second with about 33%. Rivero founded a therapeutic dance company and serves on the city’s recreation advisory committee.
Xavier Cason will return to the board after winning the District 4 race, with about 50% of the votes. Cason is a longtime educator who left the school board shortly after the start of his second term to direct the Bull City Schools Partnership. Former DAE president and DPS teacher Kristy Moore came in second with about 30% of the votes cast.
Tuesday’s primary also decided (or effectively decided) the other local races on Durham voters’ ballots: Durham’s district attorney, sheriff, and clerk of court all won reelection, along with one District Court judge. Another District Court judge was unseated, and a newcomer will fill an open Superior Court judge seat. State Sen. Sophia Chitlik won her primary against former Durham City Council member DeDreana Freeman and is likely to sail through a general election challenge from a Republican candidate who hasn’t mounted a public campaign.
Read on for results in those races.
District Attorney
Satana Deberry won her third term, beating out defense attorney Jonathan Wilson in a head-to-head Democratic primary for the second time. She was first elected in 2018 amid a national movement for prosecutorial reform.
Deberry campaigned on what the district attorney’s office had accomplished under her in eight years: closing cold case sexual assaults, clearing court debt, and using diversion programs to help people charged with crimes get treatment for mental illness and substance use while focusing prosecution on violent crimes.
Wilson, despite receiving endorsements from the Durham Committee and the Friends of Durham, among others, could not overcome Deberry’s widespread support as the incumbent. Deberry won with 61% of the vote, having secured the coveted People’s Alliance endorsement.
Sheriff
Clarence Birkhead handily won a third term, having served in the role since 2018. Birkhead secured 85 percent of the vote to defeat challenger Johnny Hawkins, a law enforcement veteran who previously ran detention services for the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.
Birkhead ran on his record, emphasizing that the sheriff’s office had expanded educational and substance use programs in the county jail, reduced vacancies and call times, and attained jail accreditation by three major accreditors.
Judges and Clerk
Durham will get two new judges after Tuesday’s election.
Myra Griffin will take the seat that Superior Court Judge Michael O’Foghludha is vacating after more than 20 years. Griffin won about 69% of the vote to defeat assistant attorney general Ameshia Cooper Chester. Griffin is the longtime North Carolina Industrial Commissioner; in that role, she presides over workers’ compensation and tort claims appeals.
Durham has four Superior Court judges who hear higher-level criminal and civil cases throughout the region and serve eight-year terms. With O’Foghludha’s upcoming departure, the chief justice will need to name a new resident Superior Court judge for Durham, which usually hinges on seniority.
Durham’s District Court bench will also get one new judge after challenger Christy Hamilton Malott defeated him with about 67% of votes cast. Hamilton Malott is a senior assistant attorney for Durham County with 20 years of experience in family law. Jones has served as a District Court judge since 2019, but likely lost support during the campaign season after he was charged with domestic violence; he was later found not guilty.
Durham has six District Court judges. Incumbent Doretta Walker, who was also on the ballot Tuesday, soundly won another term with 75% percent of the votes cast, despite the People’s Alliance declining to make an endorsement between her and challenger Keith Bishop.
Senate District 22
State Sen. Sophia Chitlik won a second term in office; she received about 65% of the vote, holding back former Durham City Council member DeDreana Freeman.
As a lawmaker, Chitlik has focused on child care. She emphasized what she’s accomplished in just over a year in office, including filing more than 50 bills, getting an amendment passed into law, and responding to hundreds of constituent calls and emails.
The rest of Durham’s legislative delegation is also up for reelection this year, but did not draw opponents from their parties; they are either unopposed in the fall or do not face challengers likely to prevail in their super blue districts.
All results are unofficial until certified.
Comment on this story at [email protected].