In an unusual move for a local election, the chair of the Democratic National Committee endorsed Bill Bell for mayor of Durham Thursday.
Speaking to about 50 community leaders, Bell supporters and reporters on the steps of City Hall, DNC chair Terry McAuliffe praised Bell for his leadership during his 26 years as a Durham County commissioner.
"The entire national committee of our Democratic Party is here to wholeheartedly endorse Bill Bell to be the next mayor of Durham, North Carolina," McAuliffe said.
In the Nov. 6 election, Bell will face incumbent Nick Tennyson, whom he trailed by 7.4 percentage points in the primary earlier this month.
The DNC's involvement in the race surprised some observers.
Ted Arrington, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said national parties rarely endorse candidates in local races.
What makes the decision more unusual is that Durham's municipal elections are nonpartisan; although Bell is a Democrat and Tennyson is a Republican, their party affiliations will not appear on the ballot.
"Generally, the party does not get involved very closely [in nonpartisan elections]... because the party's name is not on the line," Arrington said."Generally, nothing gets made of it."
Arrington suggested national endorsements in local races are most common in major cities such as Boston or New York, in cases where the candidate could be a rising star in the party, or in situations where a national figure knows the candidate personally--though none of these seem to apply directly to Bell's case.
Edward Benson, chair of the Durham County Democratic Party, said he thought the national attention was due mainly to Bell's exceptional strength as a candidate. "Beyond that, I think [national party leaders] are trying to reach out to grassroots parties across the country," said Benson, who is also a columnist for The Chronicle.
In his speech, McAuliffe said the committee's move to work more closely with local parties has led to the election of Democratic mayors in all 10 races the DNC targeted so far this year.
"Instead of just being a presidential campaign committee, instead of just being the political arm of the White House, we're now a full-service, one-stop shop, providing resources to help Democrats win up and down the ballot," McAuliffe said in prepared remarks.
Arrington suggested that one other reason for the endorsement might be its potential weight in a close race.
"Durham is a very Democratic city, so it might make a difference there," Arrington explained.
In Durham County, 60 percent of registered voters are Democrats, while 22 percent are Republicans.
Tennyson, however, said he thought McAuliffe's endorsement would be less effective in a local election.
"My thought is, does he know anything about Durham?" the mayor asked.
"I guess I just feel like this is an election where people will make their decision based on who they know and who they trust, and I expect that will be [on the advice of] local people," Tennyson continued.
At the conference, McAuliffe commended Bell's fiscal responsibility and his views on such issues as fighting crime and improving education, while criticizing the current city government--and Tennyson's leadership--for its troubled small-business loan program and its failure to collect water bills from many customers.
McAuliffe also promised success for state Democrats in future national elections, such as the race to succeed Sen. Jesse Helms in 2002. "In 2004, [North Carolina] is going to be a Democratic state in the national campaign," he added. "You have my word on that."
Following McAuliffe's remarks, Bell spoke briefly, promising to reduce crime in the inner city, to provide more community activities for children and to be a more effective leader than Tennyson.
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