Although the telephone number to District Attorney Mike Nifong's office has recently been changed, calls for reform have not ceased in the past few weeks.
Since granting about 60 interviews immediately after rape allegations surfaced against members of the Duke men's lacrosse team, Nifong has faced criticism for making controversial statements early in the investigation. For more than three months, the district attorney has rarely spoken to the press, citing ethical rules of post-indictment conduct.
But Nifong's silence has continued to generate disapproval. Defense lawyers and many others have raised questions about his behavior in pursuing the case.
The district-attorney seat is open to election this fall. In the May Democratic primary, Nifong edged out former Assistant District Attorney Freda Black and Durham lawyer Keith Bishop by only 883 votes for a spot on the November ballot.
Though Nifong was expected to face no opposition in the general elections, two new challengers have since emerged. Durham County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, a Democrat, and Steve Monks, Durham County Republican Party chairman, participated in petition drives to get their names on the ballot.
While Monks' campaign fell short of the required 6,303--4 percent of Durham's registered voters--Cheek collected 10,000 signatures.
"I think [the petition drive] shows that people in Durham are very concerned about what's going on in Durham, how Durham has been portrayed in the media, both in the state of North Carolina and outside the state of North Carolina," Cheek said.
Cheek permitted his supporters to circulate petitions after they approached him about the possibility of running against Nifong. Cheek has not yet decided whether he will actively campaign for the position, although, according to state law, his name will remain on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate even if he decides not to run.
Democratic activist Jackie Brown, who worked on Nifong's successful primary campaign, switched allegiances when she became Cheek's campaign treasurer.
Brown helped to coordinate Cheek's $18,000 mail program, sending petitions and stamped envelopes to 25,000 Durham voters.
Monks had originally chosen a Republican candidate to petition for a spot on the ballot. However, Monks himself stepped in when the first candidate dropped out upon learning that Cheek was also campaigning.
Before the May primary, Monks and Nifong held a meeting to discuss the election, at which Monks told the district attorney that he would face no Republican opposition.
"We have a pretty good rapport," Monks added. "We talk about baseball and music and things we have in common."
Despite this earlier assurance, he decided to challenge Nifong. "It needed to be done," Monks said.
Despite a failed petition campaign, Monks intends to run as a write-in candidate--which requires only 100 signatures--if Cheek does not seek the office.
Monks said he hopes Cheek will make a decision soon. "It effectively kills my ability to fundraise," he said. "It wouldn't be until it's too late that everyone concluded that he isn't embracing the challenge."
Before Cheek makes a decision, however, he said he must thoughtfully consider what's best for the fate of his three-year-old law firm and the people in it, his 30-year-old civil litigation career and the community.
"[The issues are] personal, they're professional, they're financial," he said. "First I've got to decide whether it's feasible, and second, whether it's the right thing to do."
If Cheek were elected and declined the job, Democratic governor Mike Easley would be required to appoint a new district attorney.
Durham lawyer Marcus Hill, who helped fundraise for Nifong in the primary, said he does not think the November election is a race until Cheek decides to actively campaign--but if it does becomes a competitive race, he is not sure whom he will support.
If Cheek decides not to seek the office, he said he will actively encourage voters not to support him. Still, some say it will be possible for him to win the election.
"If people are sufficiently alienated by Nifong, then Cheek may have a chance even if he doesn't campaign," said David Rhode, professor of political science at Duke. "It just depends on how strongly they dislike the other candidate."
Despite their involvement in campaigns against Nifong, neither Cheek nor Monks is quick to criticize his legal colleague--politically or personally.
"I look more at myself and what I think and try to point out to people those things, [more] than I try to point out things that I don't like or think of as deficiencies in other people," Cheek said.
He added, however, that many issues were raised by the way Nifong handled statements made about the case, questions from the media and commentary about evidence.
"I think there were many people who think that matters should have been handled differently and better," Cheek said.
Several senior staff members in Nifong's primary campaign have switched camps in the wake of new developments in the lacrosse case. Along with Brown, Roland Leary, a former sheriff who was once a Nifong supporter, has agreed to help Cheek.
"I think it might be an embarrassing thing if your chief supporters switched sides," said Black, Nifong's closest competitor in the primary.
She added that she has received dozens of calls from people who are happy to have an alternate choice on November's ballot. "I think it's wonderful that the voters will have another option besides Mike Nifong," Black said.
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