2025 Endorsements: Durham Municipal Election

Durham voters are heading back to the polls to make their final picks for mayor and three city council seats.

All of the candidates we originally endorsed for the primary election have made it through to the general.

Durham voters have the option to maintain or make significant changes to the city council, with four of seven seats on the ballot. Whoever is elected will, over the next few years, make consequential decisions about the city’s future, and they’ll do so in an increasingly complex and fraught political climate. 

Durham’s next city council will influence the city’s growth well into the future through individual development votes and the rewrite of Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance, determine the next phase for the HEART program, and shape the city’s burgeoning strategic plan to end homelessness. They’ll need to pass a budget inevitably shaped by federal funding cuts. And they’ll need to navigate a political environment where the kinds of inclusive and progressive values the city proudly wears could put a target on its back. 

Here, again, are our picks for mayor and Durham City Council:

Mayor

Leonardo Williams

In some respects the mayor is no more than the seventh member of the Durham City Council. The mayor’s vote carries no more weight than a single council member’s.

But mayor has additional duties to act as an ambassador for the city. The mayor needs to be able to talk policy with officials at all levels of government and advocate for Durham’s needs. The mayor needs to be able to bring people into the tent and build consensus. The mayor needs to be visible and energetic, a cheerleader for Durham.

In his two years as mayor, Leonardo Williams has demonstrated he can fill that role. Williams is an effective spokesperson for the city, accessible to constituents and comfortable in the spotlight. Williams has brought together community partners to expand services for youth and convened city councilors, county commissioners, and school board members together for new regular meetings. At a time when local governments face funding uncertainty and risk drawing political ire, a stable presence who can tactfully navigate the politics of the role feels especially important.

But while Williams has succeeded in this capacity, we do have strong concerns with his near 100 percent approval of development cases and his demeanor at times toward constituents in public hearings. While we do endorse him for a second term given his success in the mayor’s unique role as an advocate and representative of the city, we hope that if he earns another from voters, he will be more discerning on development cases and make genuine efforts to build goodwill with constituents who feel he does not currently represent them.

City Council Ward 1

Matt Kopac

Matt Kopac has a classic résumé for public office. He served on the city’s environmental advisory board for six years, including time as chair, and is currently a member of the Planning Commission.

On the Planning Commission, Kopac has deliberated over many of the same developments as the city council, asking thoughtful questions and offering pointed feedback to ensure community benefits and environmental protections.

He brings valuable experience in both environmental and economic fields. Kopac has worked for several years on sustainability initiatives, both as a consultant and in leadership positions at Burt’s Bees. He cofounded the Durham Living Wage Project, which pushed local businesses forward in providing workers with better pay.

Building climate resilience and managing growth are top priorities for Durham. Kopac has a dynamic set of skills and experiences in both the public and private sectors, and we think he’ll be an energetic and prudent new voice on the council who won’t be an automatic yes or no on development votes.

City Council Ward 2

Shanetta Burris

Ahead of the primary, we elected not to make an endorsement in the Ward 2 race. Over the past few weeks, we’ve gathered additional information and want to provide readers with an informed recommendation as they head back to the polls.

We still have reservations about incumbent Mark-Anthony Middleton. Since trailing challenger Shanetta Burris in the primary by 10 percentage points, he’s stood by his record (“I’ve been elected twice in this city, pretty impressively. I haven’t done it by talking differently or changing my message or changing my policy,” he told the INDY on primary night). We appreciate Middleton’s focus on gun violence, his institutional and policy knowledge, and insistence on logical decision-making—and if those things appeal to you, you should consider him. But, as in the primary, his voting record on rezoning cases and trust he’s lost among some residents who have advocated to city council prevent us from issuing an endorsement. 

Burris made an impressive showing in the primary, turning out big numbers against an incumbent despite raising the least money of any candidate. Since the primary, we’ve learned more through additional conversations about her years of organizing in the community and real-world knowledge of housing policy. She has spoken thoughtfully about ensuring city programs aimed at promoting housing affordability are actually working and about building trust in local government, especially at a time when confidence in federal and state government is low. 

Some interactions we’ve heard about or witnessed during our reporting this election season, and the fact that Burris didn’t file any required campaign finance reports until we inquired about them in mid-October, gave us pause. But we’re hopeful she will follow through on her pledges to be both community- and data-informed in development decisions and to build coalitions across different perspectives on issues affecting Durham. We think she deserves a shot and endorse her for Ward 2.

City Council Ward 3

Chelsea Cook

Appointing Chelsea Cook to the Ward 3 seat left vacant when Leonardo Williams became mayor ranks among the Durham City Council’s best decisions in recent years.

An eviction defense attorney who worked at Legal Aid before recently joining the faculty at Duke Law, Cook brings a ground-level view of Durham’s housing crisis to a council wrestling with growth and development. 

Cook stands out among their colleagues as someone who asks incisive questions that often reveal overlooked policy implications. Cook does their homework without arriving at the dais with predetermined conclusions and acknowledges when issues fall outside their expertise while still engaging substantively.

Cook’s instincts for both listening and leading were exemplified by their first action on council, introducing a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza—not a safe choice for a newly appointed council member, but one that reflected clear constituent demand.

Comment on this story at [email protected].

INDY editor-in-chief Sarah Willets, culture editor Sarah Edwards, and staff writers Lena Geller, Justin Laidlaw, and Chase Pellegrini de Paur contributed to these endorsements.