A low turnout in Tuesday's Durham elections produced a few surprises in the city council races but little surprise in the mayoral election.
Unofficial results showed overwhelming support for Durham mayor Sylvia Kerckhoff in her race against challenger Harry Rodenhizer. Kerckhoff joined incumbents Virginia Engelhard and Kim Griffin in returning to the council. Also elected were Angela Langley, Tyrone Cox, Cynthia Brown and Paul Miller (see graphic).
This year's election was marked by heavy and somewhat controversial endorsement of candidates political action groups. Backed by the Friends of Durham, conservative candidates John Lloyd, John Best, Hazel Betts and Betsy Robb did not fare well in the elections. Of five candidates running on the "Contract with Durham" platform, only Griffin won in the election. The platform pledged to eliminate the storm water run-off fee, enact a plan to have prison inmates clean up city parks and examine the city's Human Relations Commission.
Liberal candidates Langley, Engelhard, Cox, Brown and Miller, some of whom were backed by Durham Voters' Alliance and the People's Alliance, posted much stronger showings. Running on a platform supporting a housing bond, more police officers, improved transportation services and greater protection for city employees, liberal candidates won nearly every seat with the exception of one at-large position.
Many of these candidates also enjoyed support from the Durham chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the powerful Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.
In the mayoral race, Kerckhoff earned 67 percent of the votes cast, while Rodenhizer received 33 percent of the votes. Although this margin of victory was not as great as it was in the primary, it was nearly double the 20 percent margin Kerckhoff enjoyed when she defeated Rodenhizer in the 1993 elections.
In the Ward II elections, challenger Langley defeated incumbent Lloyd by nearly 20 percent, garnering 58 percent of the votes to Lloyd's 48 percent.
The results were closer in Ward IV, where Cox defeated Robb by a margin of less than 5 percent. Cox earned 52 percent of the votes, besting Robb's 48 percent. The results parallel a similar showing in the Oct. 10 primary, where Cox lead Robb by a margin of 45 percent to 37 percent.
In Ward VI, three-time incumbent Engelhard trounced challenger Betts. Engelhard received 58 percent of the votes, while Betts received 42 percent.
In the at-large races, the top four finishers in the primary retained their rank in Tuesday's voting, propelling challengers Brown, with 63 percent, and Miller, with 61 percent, into the council. Griffin also retained his seat with 48 percent of the votes. Incumbent Lorisa Seibel barely missed qualifying for the third seat, finishing only 240 votes behind Griffin.
Only 21.9 percent of Durham's 93,199 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's elections. The turnout is nearly half of the average 34.8 percent turnout since 1983, and nearly 10 percent below the 30 percent turnout in 1993.
Some speculated that Tuesday's poor weather may have contributed to the low turnout. The results are not particularly surprising, however, as only 15.4 percent of all registered voters made it to the polls for the primary.
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