Durham's municipal election season begins Tuesday, when voters head to the polls to narrow down the field of candidates for mayor and Durham City Council.
Although only two of the five mayoral candidates will make it past the primary, would-be City Council members have less to worry about--at least at this stage, when 12 of the 15 candidates will stay in the race.
"I would say that by and large, the campaign has been fairly quiet so far and that the real campaign will start Tuesday," said incumbent Lewis Cheek.
So far, most City Council candidates said they have campaigned by attending a few forums, filling out questionnaires distributed by the city's newspapers and political action committees, erecting signs, speaking at public events and talking to citizens.
But the frequency of forums and speaking engagements has so far been relatively low. "I think I'll be campaigning more [after Tuesday] because there'll be more campaigning to do," candidate Jeffery White said. "Everyone seems to be waiting for the primary to be over before they make any decisions on who they want to come speak."
The council, which will consist of the mayor and six regular members--down from 12 in past years--is elected in two different ways. Three members and the mayor are chosen from the city at large. The city is also divided into three wards, each of which sends one resident to the council.
The at-large race
Tuesday's primary will reduce the at-large field to six candidates. But since only seven--incumbents Cheek, Tamra Edwards, Dan Hill, Angela Langley and Thomas Stith, and challengers Steven Matherly and Joe Williams--are running, only one will have to drop out.
That makes current council members more worried about losing the Nov. 6 general election than Tuesday's primary. "Frankly, I've said to many people that if I can't... make it into the final six, then I've got no business running for the election anyway," Cheek said.
Williams suggested that the voters might want new blood on the council. "The confidence that [the incumbents] have is real high right now," he said. "I think it's overconfidence."
Matherly was also confident about his ability to win, though he admitted that the conventional wisdom was that the incumbents would have a relatively easy primary.
"What I've heard in the papers is that with the five incumbents and Joe Williams and me in the race..., Joe is the one for me to beat," he said. "And I think I can do that."
Ward 1
The most competitive of the council races Tuesday is the Ward 1 race, where four candidates--incumbent Jacqueline Wagstaff and challengers White, Cora Cole-McFadden and Ray Ubinger--are running. But only two of those names can be on the ballot come November.
Most political insiders see Cole-McFadden as the favorite in the race, with Wagstaff as the next most likely to advance.
"Certainly Cora will get through because she has the backing of all the PACs," said Michael Peterson, a Ward 2 candidate. Neither Cole-McFadden nor Wagstaff could be reached for comment.
But White said he thought he would win the primary. "The city of Durham and the citizens of Durham may think it's time for a change," he said.
Ubinger, a Medical Center employee, also said he was confident, but added that he was prepared to mount a write-in campaign in the general election if necessary. "I intend to keep campaigning whether I make it to the general ballot or not," the Libertarian Party member said. "It ain't over till it's over."
Wards 2 and 3
The two remaining wards will not even be listed on the primary ballot, since there are only two candidates in each race--Peterson and Mayor Pro Tem Howard Clement in Ward 2, incumbent Erick Larson and challenger John Best in Ward 3.
Peterson said the absence of a primary has made for a disappointingly slow campaign so far. "I think I'm the only person generating any kind of thought because I'm the only one dealing with issues," he said. "I am really eager to start the election after the primary so that we can start focusing on the issues."
Clement said he has already started his campaign. "I campaign all the time," he said.
Best said the absence of a primary in his race has given candidates more time to raise money and generate support before facing the possibility of elimination. "But also the disadvantage, I guess, is that a primary kind of gives you a good read on what the voters are thinking," he added.
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