DURHAM -- Mayor Bill Bell, who far outdistanced his challengers, will likely face Assembly at Durham Christian Center Pastor Sylvester Williams in November's general election, according to unofficial results.
Williams, however, received just 23 votes more than County Commissioner Joe Bowser on Tuesday, so the results could change when the 213 provisional ballots are counted, said Michael Perry, interim director of the Durham County Board of Elections.
Election staff will analyze the provisional ballots and make recommendations to the Board of Elections at 9 a.m. Friday, he said.
Williams and fellow challenger Ralph McKinney Jr. unsuccessfully ran against Bell, who has been mayor since 2001, in previous elections. Bowser served as a county commissioner from 1996 to 2004, when he lost his seat in an election that followed the firing of County Manager Mike Ruffin. Bowser was re-elected in 2008.
Council races
Meanwhile, primary voters also narrowed the list of seven candidates vying for three at-large, nonpartisan City Council seats. The top six vote-getters in the primary will face off in the general election, which promises to deliver at least one new face to the council. Incumbent Farad Ali isn't running for re-election.
Incumbents Diane Catotti and Eugene Brown, who have been on the council since 2003, along with former Durham Public Schools Board of Education member Steve Schewel, commanded a significant lead over the other four candidates.
Catotti, a global health policy consultant, won the most votes, followed by Brown, owner of real estate firm Distinctive Properties, then Schewel, president and owner of the Independent Weekly. Schewel also served on the school board from 2004 to 2008. Victoria Peterson, Donald Hughes and Solomon Burnette trailed significantly.
John Tarantino took last place and will not appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. Tarantino, who is retired from the military, unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 2009 and the school board in 2010.
Peterson, owner of Fiber To the World Inc., and Hughes, who is in advertising sales, have both unsuccessfully sought a seat on the council. Burnette, who is running for the first time, is a book dealer who is starting a nonprofit focusing on gang violence in Durham.
All of the candidates are Democrats, except for Tarantino, who is unaffiliated.
Early in the day, Bell said he was confident he would advance in the primary, citing his many years in leadership positions.
"I have proven that I have been able to get things done," said Bell, executive vice president for UDI Community Development Corp.
Political groups' stands
The People's Alliance, one of Durham's big three political action organizations, endorsed Bell, Brown, Catotti and Schewel. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the Friends of Durham made no endorsements.
About 8.7 percent of the 133,452 registered voters participated in the primary.
"It was a good day, just a late turn out," Perry said.
