Durham City At-Large Council member Javiera Caballero has suspended her campaign for mayor of Durham, she announced in a statement Monday morning.
The decision comes after the results of the primary election, in which Elaine O’Neal received 67.96% of the vote and Caballero received 24.63%.
“In light of the results of last week’s primary election, I believe that my best role right now is to continue to fight for my values and for the people of Durham in my role on the City Council, and I will be suspending my campaign effective today,” she wrote in the statement.
Caballero’s name will remain on the general election ballot.
Caballero wrote that she “knew this campaign would be an uphill battle” from the beginning. While she noted her campaign goals—including improving public safety, addressing climate change and creating more affordable housing—are hard to achieve, she “entered the race for mayor because [she believes] these battles are worth fighting.”
She wrote that she is proud to have become the first Latina city councilor elected in North Carolina.
“While I knew from the start that campaigning to be the first Latina mayor in the American Southeast (outside of Florida) would be the biggest uphill battle of my career, I also knew that I owed it to my community to stand up, to take one more step in making sure that our immigrant community in Durham feels seen, is heard and is represented in our city government,” Caballero wrote.
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Leah Boyd is a Pratt senior and a social chair of The Chronicle's 118th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 117.