Image credit: Our State
The 2023 city council races in Durham were won by Nate Baker, Javiera Caballero, and Carl Rist. Each of the winners was supported by at least one of two political machines, the People’s Alliance (PA) or the Durham Committee for the Affairs of Black People (DCABP). Election turnout was 19 percent and no candidate was supported by more than 12 percent of eligible voters [1].
According to a recent article in Bull City Public Investigator, “Two PACs have dominated Durham politics recently: the People’s Alliance (PA) and Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP). In the past decade, every winning candidate in local races has been endorsed by at least one of these two PACs” [2].
Two other groups, the Friends of Durham (FOD) and the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), were discussed as well. The article said, “It is common for less than 650 people to decide [the four] PAC endorsements in a community of more than 330,000 residents.”
Baker became the first democratic socialist ever elected to Durham's city council. Despite his criticism of the “pro-developer” consensus, Baker was endorsed by DCABP and IndyWeek. Aside from Baker, “pro-benefits” candidates like Dr. Monique Holsey-Hyman and Sherri Zann Rosenthal were routed.
The PA showed itself to be the city's strongest and most cohesive faction during the 2023 elections. Its candidates won second, third and fourth place. The PA also fielded an overlapping network of high-dollar donors who gave generously to Caballero, Rist, and Karim. Since winning seats in the election, Caballero and Rist have been a part of the pro-developer majority on city council.
Source: 35-Day and Pre-Primary Reports from NC Board of Elections [3]
Source: 35-Day, Pre-Primary, and Pre-Election Reports from NC Board of Elections [3]
Nate Baker was the top vote-getter in both the primary and general elections.
He had a low average donation, $124, and the least generous main donor of any major candidate. However, Baker also raised a decent amount of money. It's difficult to conclude that this data means he was popular among less affluent residents of Durham due to complicating factors like low turnout and influential endorsements.
In victory, Baker became the first democratic socialist elected to city council. He was endorsed by the Triangle chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose members provided Baker with a small army of door-knockers and poll workers.
Image credit: Sunrise Movement Durham Hub
The city’s political powerbrokers offered Baker a good deal of support, shown through his endorsement by DCABP and IndyWeek. However, the newspaper has cautioned its readers on Baker, noting that some found him “too friendly with problematic people” who “spread groundless or disproven conspiracy theories” [4]. All political sides include people who enjoy speculative gossip, so it's likely that IndyWeek's real objection was to Baker working with activists who oppose many projects put forward by property developers.
Since his election, Baker has joined the pro-benefits faction of city council, which often votes against annexations and rezonings that do not align with city guidelines like the Comprehensive Plan or offer public benefits such as affordable housing. The other members of the pro-benefits group are Chelsea Cook and DeDreana Freeman.
Since the 2023 elections, Baker supported a major pay raise for city workers, which passed in June 2024 [5]. He was also the first councilor to call for a Gaza ceasefire resolution, which passed in February 2024.
Baker is also involved in a new campaign called Duke Respect Durham, which calls on Duke University to be a more democratic partner to the city and county by making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). As a nonprofit, Duke University is exempt from paying property taxes on non-commercial holdings that would amount to tens of millions of dollars. According to Duke Respect Durham, the prestigious university owns 11 percent of the city’s land.
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Javiera Caballero was re-elected to city council, placing second in the race.
She had a high average donation, largely due to huge donations from leaders in the PA. Caballero won endorsements from the PA and IndyWeek. If her donations from prominent PA members were removed, her average donation would have been about $140, not much higher than Rist or Baker.
Caballero received $6,400 from former city councilor Charlie Reece and $4,400 from Laura Reece. Mrs. Reece is the CEO of pharmaceutical company Rho Inc. and Mr. Reece is general counsel. Mrs. Reece inherited the company from her parents [6]. Rho Inc. had “more than 400 employees” in 2017 and public estimates of its revenues vary widely [7].
Image credit: Triangle Business Journal
Durham county commissioner Nida Allam donated $3,500 to Caballero’s campaign. Former mayor Steve Schewel and former city councilor Jillian Johnson gave $1,000 apiece.
Allam, Johnson, Reece, and Schewel have all been at some point endorsed by the People’s Alliance.
Since her re-election, Caballero has maintained a pro-developer stance on development issues. She supported the Virgil Road Annexation in May 2024, a project for single-family "sprawl” that passed by a vote of 4-3. The Virgil Road project had been unanimously opposed by the Planning Commission, which gives non-binding advice to city council [8]. That override and other issues led a prominent commissioner, Duke professor Antony Sease, to resign in June 2024 [9].
When IndyWeek endorsed Caballero, the newspaper praised her position on development issues. It wrote that she “understands the limits of what the city can legally do and the constraints imposed upon local governments by the state, and she’s adept at explaining those realities to constituents” [10].
State government constrains local housing policy, especially through laws that ban the use of rent control and construction of public housing that competes with the private sector [11][12]. However, there are available options that pro-developer members have not pursued, such as a requirement for mixed use developments, sustainable building design, public park dedication, stronger negotiations with developers, and more.
According to UE Local 150, Caballero has a mixed record on labor issues important to city workers. With reservations, she has supported the union’s demand to reclassify Solid Waste workers. However, Caballero has declined to support city workers in their demand for $25 dollar per hour.
UE Local 150 has claimed that if Durham’s universal living wage ordinance were calculated with current data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rather than data from four years ago, city workers would be guaranteed a minimum wage of $27 per hour [13].
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Carl Rist won election to city council with a third-place finish, right above the cutoff to earn a seat.
He raised $40,000 more than any other candidate. However, Rist’s average donation of $126 was quite low, showing an impressive base of support among small-dollar donors. Given that fact, it’s surprising that he wasn’t the top vote-getter in the election. Rist’s cost per vote was much higher than any other candidate, reaching $7.44 per vote in the primary.
The PA and IndyWeek both endorsed Rist. Although to a lesser extent than for Caballero, the PA endorsement was backed up by significant donations. Jillian Johnson and Charlie Reece both donated about $1,000 to his campaign.
The endorsements of political PACs like the PA, DCABP, FOD, DAE and others are influential for reasons that include long-established name recognition, various kinds of advertising like glossy mailers, and their employment of workers who hand out literature or sample ballots at polling locations.
Once elected, Rist joined the pro-developer majority on city council made up of Caballero, mayor pro tempore Mark-Antony Middleton, and mayor Leonardo Williams.
During the debate over the Virgil Road Annexation, IndyWeek wrote that Rist “said nutrient pollution and algal blooms are a ‘serious issue for Falls Lake’ and seemed to suggest that clear-cutting hundreds of acres of trees and vegetation would alleviate the issue” [9]. Sound Rivers, an environmental group, has disputed that claim.
Falls Lake. Image credit: UNC
Rist voted in favor of the Gaza ceasefire resolution in February 2024. During that meeting, he made a rare, temporary departure from the pro-developer faction.
Before the ceasefire vote, there was a debate on the Sagebrook Annexation. The Planning Commission had voted 12-0 to recommend against the project. Hundreds of anti-war protestors repeatedly cheered for residents who opposed to the Sagebrook Annexation for its inconsistency with the city’s Place Type Map, the developer's plans for mass grading of the land, fears of watershed damage, and a few other issues [1:01:15] [1:04:00][1:07:00].
During the vote, Rist joined the pro-benefits members and the Sagebrook Annexation was postponed for further review by a vote of 4-3. His behavior in that case suggests that greater public awareness of development issues could benefit the pro-benefits faction of city council.
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Khalilah Karim came in fourth place, one spot too low to win a seat on city council.
The PA endorsed Karim, who performed the best of any candidate with only one "Big Three" endorsement. The network of PA donors who backed Caballero and Rist also offered massive support to Karim. Nida Allam gave $8,900 to her campaign, with a portion routed through the Brighter Future PAC. Charlie Reece and Steve Schewel both donated $1,000. Caballero and school board chair Millicent Rogers chipped in lesser amounts.
Karim was the only candidate in the race who’d spent time as a union organizer. After working for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), she took a position with the NC League of Conservation Voters, an environmental organization.
Image credit: PBS
Durham Dispatch recently published an article about Dr. Monique Holsey-Hyman, who placed fifth in the race [x].
Holsey-Hyman was accused of extortion by property developer Jarrod Edens in March 2023. No evidence was ever provided to support the allegation. Edens may have made the charge to retaliate after Holsey-Hyman voted against the Carpenter Falls Annexation, which the developer needed for a large project.
The local press and pro-developer members of city council spent months repeating Edens' accusation against Holsey-Hyman, ruining her public reputation. She was exonerated by the NC State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) in September 2023, less than two months before the general election.
Property developer Jarrod Edens. Image credit: Triangle Business Journal
Sheila Huggins suspended her campaign after the primary election and placed sixth in the general.
Her average donation of $270 was much higher than any other candidate, although her cost per vote was lower than Rist and Karim. Huggins was the only candidate to take money directly from a real estate group. The NC Realtors PAC donated $4,000 to her campaign. Many other candidates took donations from people involved in the real estate and construction sectors.
Along with most US cities, Durham is facing crises of housing costs and homelessness. Due to the city council's role in regulating the real estate sector through the power of zoning, it can be seen as a conflict of interest for a candidate to take donations from the industry.
Major investors of NC Realtors PAC. Image credit: NC Realtors PAC
Sherri Zann Rosenthal placed seventh in the 2023 elections. Her campaign was the most noteworthy of those that did not advance to the general election.
Although Rosenthal won only three thousand votes, that was the highest tally for any candidate without a "Big Three" endorsement. Recall that over the past decade, no candidate in Durham has been elected without the support of either the PA or DCABP.
Rosenthal was outside the orbit of the “less than 650 people” who tend to pick the winners of Durham elections. She drew on a network of activists from groups like the InterNeighborhood Council, Preserve Rural Durham, Sound Rivers, Sunrise Movement Durham Hub, and city employees she’d worked with for decades.
A former deputy city attorney, Rosenthal focused her campaign on issues like high vacancies in city departments, low pay for city workers, and the risks of privatizing government functions into the hands of contractors.
Members of Preserve Rural Durham raise environmental concerns about the Griffin Annexation. Image credit. News and Observer
Close
The 2023 campaign for city council was defined by the traditional dominance of Durham's two political machines and extremely low voter turnout. The main consequence of the race was the continuation of a 4-3 split on city council between pro-developer and pro-benefits members.
The pro-benefits minority lost Dr. Monique Holsey-Hyman but gained Nate Baker, a democratic socialist who won more votes than any other candidate. In office, Baker has provided support for city workers, taxation of Duke University, residents who question many projects of property developers, and a ceasefire in Gaza.
The People’s Alliance flexed its muscles by fielding three high-quality candidates who won second, third, and fourth place. A network of donors affiliated with the PAC poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of Javiera Caballero, Carl Rist, and Khalilah Karim. The re-election of Caballero maintained one member of the pro-developer majority on city council. Rist also joined that voting bloc, replacing Jillian Johnson.
Moving forward from the 2023 races, Durham activists should look for opportunities to support and encourage new democratic movements, especially trade unions, in order to bring forward interest and energy from the 80 percent of the population which currently plays no formal role in community decisions.
The divide between the pro-developer and pro-benefits groups seems likely to continue. The housing issue draws endless fuel from the anger of hundreds of thousands who cannot bear the rising cost of rent. It can never be allowed to rest as long as a single person in Durham remains homeless, disgracefully forgotten by our wealthy society, abandoned at night to the winds and rains of heaven.
Work Cited
1. NC SBE Contest Results. er.ncsbe.gov/?election_dt=11/07/2023&county_id=32&office=ALL&contest=0.
2. “Do PAC Endorsements Matter in Durham Politics?” Bull City Public Investigators, 1 Mar. 2024, bcpi.substack.com/p/do-pac-endorsements-matter-in-durham.
3. “Index for Candidate Committees”. NC Board of Elections. https://dcoftp.net/boe-ftp/Campaign%20Finance/Open%20Committees/Candidate%20Committees.
4. Hartman, Matt. “The Running of the Bulls.” INDY Week, 22 Sept. 2023, www.indyweek.com/news/durham/the-running-of-the-bulls.
5. “Durham City Workers Win Largest Wage Increases in Many Years but Fight for Fair Pay Continues.” Durham Dispatch, 23 June 2024, www.durhamdispatch.com/post/durham-city-workers-win-largest-wage-increases-in-many-years-but-fight-for-fair-pay-continues.
6. “Laura Helms Reece of Rho.” Rare Revolution, 23 Nov. 2022, www.rarerevolutionmagazine.com/peopleofrare/laura-helms-reece-of-rho.
7. Eanes, Zachary. “Chapel Hill-based Company Rho Moving Its Headquarters to Research Triangle Park.” Durham Herald-Sun, 1 Nov. 2017, www.heraldsun.com/news/business/article181967821.html.
8. Moore, Mary Helen. “Durham Approves Over 800 New Homes and Apartments Despite Sprawl Concerns.” News and Observer, 23 May 2024, www.newsobserver.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article288619505.html.
9. Geller, Lena. “Durham Planning Commissioner Resigns in Protest.” INDY Week, 24 June 2024, www.indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-planning-commissioner-resigns-in-protest.
10. Editorial Board. “2023 Endorsements: Durham Municipal Election.” INDY Week, 30 Oct. 2023, www.indyweek.com/news/durham/2023-endorsements-durham-municipal-primary.
11. “GS 42-14.1” NC Legislature, www.ncleg.gov/enactedlegislation/statutes/pdf/bysection/chapter_42/gs_42-14.1.pdf.
12. Childress, Greg. “Durham Leaders Hope 2024 Will Be Different for Local Workforce Housing Legislation.” NC Newsline, 15 May 2024, www.ncnewsline.com/2024/05/15/durham-leaders-hope-2024-will-be-different-for-local-workforce-housing-legislation.
13. “Durham City Workers’ Union Demands $25/Hour.” UE Local 150, https://www.ueunion.org/ue-news/2024/durham-city-workers%E2%80%99-union-demands-25hour.
14. “Durham City Council Feb 19 2024.” City of Durham NC. 20 Feb. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwgMfJf8bp4.
15. “How to Destroy a Councilwoman - the Attack on Dr. Monique Holsey-Hyman.” Durham Dispatch, 23 June 2024, www.durhamdispatch.com/post/how-to-destroy-a-councilwoman-the-attack-on-dr-monique-holsey-hyman.
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