With the incumbent voted out in the primary, two candidates who have never run for public office will face each other in the Ward 1 City Council election Nov. 6.
Former city employee Cora Cole-McFadden is the front-runner in the race, having won 58.1 percent of the votes in the four-way primary and securing the endorsements of the city's four major political groups.
Although this is her first run for public office, Cole-McFadden is a career City Hall worker and a Democratic Party activist. Before retiring this summer, she had served as the city's affirmative action director, vice chair of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and chair of the Durham County Democratic Party.
"I think I can win because we are going to get out the vote," said Cole-McFadden, a lifelong Durham resident. "If people respect not only my endorsements, but also my contributions to the community and my knowledge and love of the community, I think I will win their votes."
Her opponent, neighborhood activist Jeffery White, said he is optimistic he can win,
White said he is running for Ward 1 to bring change to the City Council.
"With the previous City Council member from my ward, I felt like my voice wasn't being heard," said White. "As someone who has never worked for the city government, I bring a perspective that is closer to the actual citizens of Durham."
Both candidates said crime and fiscal responsibility were central issues in their campaigns.
Cole-McFadden said she would use a multifaceted approach to crime prevention and examine the existing partnerships against crime in Durham.
"I think in high-crime areas, we have to look at what is happening in a holistic way," she said. "Preventing crime takes the whole community, not just the police."
White said he wants to emphasize reducing crimes like car break-ins and burglary, which he said do not necessarily require increased patrolling.
"As much as we focus on crime prevention, we need to focus on crime solution," said White. "While high-profile crime is down, the lower-level crime that happens everyday isn't decreasing, and eventually that crime escalates into larger crime."
The city's allocation of funds has also drawn the attention of both candidates. If elected, White said he would call for an audit of the city budget.
"The City Council is ultimately responsible for the taxpayer's money," he said. "I want to know where that money goes."
Cole-McFadden said she agrees with the importance of fiscal responsibility but thinks that a new approach to the budget would remove the need for an audit.
"We need to be pro-active," she said. "If we do internal auditing upfront by making sure we study the agenda items carefully before the vote, we will not have to correct problems later."
In the Oct. 9 primary, voters eliminated democratic incumbent Jacqueline Wagstaff, who won unopposed two years ago, and Libertarian Ray Ubinger.
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