Durham’s primary election results are in. 

As expected, incumbents advanced to the general election in each race. The big news of the night was challenger Shanetta Burris’s substantial lead over Ward 2 councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton, as well as a tight race between incumbent DeDreana Freeman and challenger Matt Kopac in Ward 1. 

In addition to Middleton and Freeman, incumbents Mayor Leonardo Williams and Ward 3 council member Chelsea Cook won enough votes to advance to the general election in November, as did challengers Burris, Kopac, Anjanée Bell, and Diana Medoff. Overall, about 25,000 Durhamites cast ballots in the primary, a turnout of just under 12 percent.

Durham voters will head back to the polls soon to cast ballots again and decide the ultimate winners in each race. Early voting ahead of the November 4 general election begins on October 16.

Mayor

Williams, who is seeking a second term, maintained a comfortable lead over Bell throughout the night, with 13,761 votes to her 7,357. 

Williams, in comments at his watch party Tuesday night, was already trying to strike a conciliatory tone. That strategy makes sense for an incumbent who won about 55 percent of the vote, compared to Bell’s 30 percent.

“I’m not running against Anjanée Bell,” Williams says when asked to distinguish himself from his competitor. “I’m running for the record that I’ve set. I’m running for the work that myself, my council, and past councils have put forth. So I don’t really focus on an opponent. I focus on what we can do together moving forward, I have nothing to say negative about Ms. Bell. … I hope that she’ll join me as an ally to work to make Durham even better than what it is today.”

Just a block and a half away at High Dive, Bell didn’t sound quite ready to take him up on that offer. Her father, former mayor Bill Bell, perched on a stool by the door while Ward 1 incumbent DeDreana Freeman and former council member Monique Holsey-Hyman mingled with the crowd.

“I think it matters to have someone in leadership that genuinely cares about Durham as a whole. That includes its people, that includes the ability to stay here, that includes the ability to be resourced, and everything that is required to live,” says Bell. “And when people see that, and they get to know that about me, that I’m someone who will sit and I will listen and I will take the time to go wherever is needed, that will show the distinction between myself and the incumbent.”

Williams was elected to the city council in 2021 and as mayor in 2023. He is a small business owner and former Durham Public Schools teacher and administrator. Bell is a dance educator, entrepreneur, and coordinator for the state’s Arts in the Parks program. 

Bell won four of Durham’s 58 precincts: One south of NC 147 between West End and Crest Street, two around North Carolina Central University and McDougald Terrace, and one that hugs NC 147 to the north from Golden Belt to C.R. Wood Park.

Pablo Friedman, a Durham Public Schools administrator, came in third in the mayoral race with about 12 percent of votes cast.

Ward 1

The Ward 1 race started close and ended close—but with a different candidate in the lead. 

Kopac and Freeman traded top spots as results came in, with Kopac ultimately eking out a 451-vote lead over Freeman (Kopac won 10,071 votes and Freeman 9,620).

Kopac works in sustainability and serves on the Durham Planning Commission, as Freeman did before she was elected to the council in 2017. 

“I’m super excited to see the results come in and just feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude for all the support that we have received to date,” Kopac said in a video recorded from his results watch party at Pour. “And I’m so excited about the work to come, the outreach, the engagement to this community as we lead into the November 4 general election.”

Freeman is seeking a third term on council. On Tuesday night, she joined Bell at High Dive to watch election results roll in.

“To my supporters, volunteers, and neighbors—thank you for believing in me again and working towards our shared vision for a stronger, more just Durham,” Freeman posted on her campaign Facebook page this morning. “Together, we have built a campaign rooted in SEE: Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice with a vision that centers People, Partnerships, and Possibilities and builds impact you can see across our city. I am proud to serve this community, the one I have called home, fought for, and will continue to champion.”

Kopac largely won precincts on the west side of Durham, while Freeman dominated in eastern precincts. Kopac took the farthest north and farthest east precincts in Durham, and Freeman won two precincts in northwest Durham anchored by Russell Road and Mason Road, as well as the same precinct Bell won around Duke University and the Crest Street neighborhood. 

Ward 2

Burris, along with Cook, gathered with supporters at Hi-Wire Brewing in Golden Belt on Tuesday, refreshing results on laptops and phones as they came in. 

“I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch,” Burris told INDY early in the night, “but overall, feeling really good.”

Burris ended up widening an early lead over Middleton throughout the night, ending with a more than 2,300-vote lead. Burris earned 11,737 votes (about 49 percent) to Middleton’s 9,411. Voters in Ward 2 were the most active during early voting.

Burris is a training manager at Supermajority, an organization that aims to strengthen the impact of women voters in elections. Her résumé includes roles with the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the successful campaign of former Durham mayor Elaine O’Neal. 

“People want change, and they want responsive leadership,” Burris says, reflecting on her lead over the incumbent.

Middleton, a pastor, currently serves as mayor pro tem and is seeking a third term. He was first elected in 2017. Middleton tells the INDY he expected a tough race.

“With margins like this, the difference can be made at who you put your hands on or talk to at the polls. So we’re going to up our ground game, we’re going to fight, we’re going to present our record to the people of Durham,” he says.

Burris dominated in 48 of Durham’s 58 precincts. Middleton won a cluster of precincts in the easternmost part of Durham County, a couple in north Durham, and about five south Durham precincts stretching from Hope Valley to NCCU and from Durham Tech to the Pearsontown Elementary area. 

“Stay kind,” Burris told the INDY, when asked about her takeaways from campaigning. “It costs absolutely nothing to be kind. Focus on issues and solutions, and just try to build community.”

As results rolled in, Williams told INDY that Middleton “is going to have to work on being much more accessible.”

“He is a great individual, a great council member,” Williams said. “I think he’s going to have to really work on making sure that the Durham community sees what he’s capable of.”

Middleton, for his part, pointed to his record of electoral wins and successes on the council. 

“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 INDY Tuesday night. “So I’ll continue to be true to who I am and leave it to the people of Durham. I always say, ‘Vox populi vox Dei—the voice of the people is the voice of God.’”

Ward 3

Cook and Medoff will advance to the general election for Ward 3, although Cook won 14,707 votes (about 60 percent) over Medoff’s 6,237 votes. 

An eviction defense attorney, Cook was appointed to the city council in 2024 when Williams became mayor and vacated his council seat. She is seeking her first elected term on council.

Cook won all but two precincts. Medoff came out on top in a precinct between W.G. Pearson Elementary and Southern Boundaries Park and another around East Regional Library.

Medoff, a newcomer to Durham politics, gathered with family and friends at Lakewood Social after a day of hopping between polling sites with her three kids in tow. As the staff shut down the restaurant around them, Medoff, a former waitress, started to shuffle folks out the door so they didn’t keep the staff waiting, before heading over to the Velvet Hippo.

Cook arrived at Hi-Wire after stopping by a National Night Out event—one of the community-police partnership gatherings held annually across Durham. She and her supporters snacked on pizza and passed around homemade campaign pins Cook had crafted using a button machine from the Scrap Exchange as her lead held steady through the night. By 9:55 p.m., five minutes before Hi-Wire’s closing time and with precincts still reporting, the group had cleared out, mindful of the brewery staff.

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