Here’s Who Has Filed For Office In Durham and Orange Counties

The period for candidates interested in running in North Carolina’s May primary elections has ended. The primary will see elections for local, state and federal offices.

You can check out a list of all the Durham County candidates here and all the Orange County candidates here, but we’ll highlight a few.

Durham County Sheriff

Sheriff Mike Andrews faces a challenge from Clarence Birkhead, previously the police chief at Duke University and for the town of Hillsborough. Both are Democrats.

Andrews was appointed in 2011, upon the retirement of former Sheriff Worth Hill. Birkhead also ran against Andrews in 2014, with Andrews winning 56 percent of the vote to Birkhead’s 38 percent.

Since then though, Andrews agency has been under fire for deaths at the county jail. Durham County Commissioners last year opted not to give him a raise. Birkhead also unsuccessfully ran for sheriff of Orange County.

Durham County District Attorney

Roger Echols, who has been DA since 2014, filed for reelection. He has two Democratic challengers, Satana Deberry, who is director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, and defense attorney Daniel Meier.

Deberry previously practiced criminal defense law and worked for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and Self Help Credit Union. Meier has been a criminal defense attorney for fifteen years. He previously worked in health care, holding several positions with the Hospital Corporation of America.


North Carolina Legislature – Durham Representatives

In the Senate, Floyd McKissick Jr. (District 20) and Mike Woodard (District 22) each filed for re-election. Neither faces a challenger from within the Democratic Party.

Republican Tom Stark (who is general counsel for the NCGOP) and Libertarian candidate Jared Erickson also filed for McKissick’s seat. Republican Rickey Padgett and Libertarian Ray Ubinger filed for Woodard’s seat.

For the House District 29 seat, Rep. MaryAnn Black filed for another term. She has no Democractic opponent, but will face a Republican challenger in Charles Becker. Rep. Marcia Morey is seeking another term in District 30 with no Democratic challenger. Republican Barry Burch and Libertarian Matthew Wagoner filed for the seat. In District 54, Democratic incumbent Rep. Robert Reives filed as did Republican Jay Stobbs.

Three candidates filed for the House District 30 seat, which has been held by Rep. Mickey Michaux for twenty terms. Michaux is not seeking reelection, but reportedly given his support to Democratic candidate Zach Hawkins, 2nd Vice Chair of the Durham County Democratic Party and a former teacher. Republican Torian Webson and Libertarian Erik Raudsep also filed.

Durham County Board of Education

District 1, 2, 3 and 4 incumbents all filed for re-election. School board seats will be decided by the May election, as the positions are nonpartisan.

In District 1, Mike Lee is challenged by Pebble Lindsay-Lucas. District 2 representative Bettina Umstead is running unopposed. District 3’s Matt Sears will be opposed by Katie Jones. District 4’s Natalie Beyer has two opponents, Antonio Jones and Angela Starke.

U.S. House of Representatives

Representative David Price, a Democrat who has represented North Carolina’s Fourth Congressional District for three decades, has two challengers from within his party: Richard Watkins and Michelle Laws.

Watkins is CEO of The Science Policy Action Network, Inc. which “seeks to fill the gap between scientific discovery and community needs.” Laws is a professor, minister and former executive director of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP.

Republican Steve Loor, an Ecuadorian-American who runs a translation company, and Libertarian Perry Whitlock also filed for the seat.

In the First Congressional District, incumbent Representative G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat who has held the seat since 2004, and Republican Roger Allison filed.


North Carolina Legislature – Orange Representatives

In the N.C. House, District 50 incumbent Rep. Greg Meyer is seeking reelection, without a Democratic opponent. Republican Kenneth Rothrock also filed. Rep. Verla Insko, a Democrat, filed for re-election to the N.C. House District 56 seat. Republican Marcus Cooke and Libertarian Matthew Clements also filed.

In the state Senate, Democrat Valerie Foushee (District 23) has no primary opponent but will face Republican Thomas Glendinning in the general.

Orange County Commissioners

Incumbent Barry Jacobs filed for reelection to an at-large seat, but withdrew his candidacy, leaving three Democrats vying for the seat: Brian Crawford, Sally Greene and Noah Oswald.

According to the Herald-Sun, Jacobs is supporting Greene, a former Chapel Hill Town Council Member. Crawford is an attorney who has served on the Orange County Planning Board. Oswald a member of the Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board.

Jamezetta Bedford, a Democrat, is unopposed for the District 1 seat. District 2 incumbent Earl McKee faces fellow Democrat Tommy McNeill.

Orange County Sheriff

Charles Blackwood, who has served as Orange County Sheriff since 2014, will face a fellow Democrat, Tony White in his reelection bid. White is a former investigator with the agency.

Orange County Board of Education

Four seats on the school board are up for grabs. Only one incumbent filed for reelection to the nonpartisan position: Brenda Stephens. There are seven other candidates: Sarah Smylie, Hillary MacKenzie, Jessica Aguilar, Hawkeye Aguilar (both Aguilar’s list the same address), Mike O’Hagerty, Will Atherton and James Needham.