Durham Democrats to permanently fill the late Paul Luebke’s House seat | News & Observer

The Durham County Democratic Party plans to appoint a permanent replacement to fill the N.C. House District 30 seat Thursday.

At least six candidates, including a district judge, local attorneys and a business owner, have expressed interest in the seat, said Tracey Burns-Vann, chair of the Durham County Democratic Party. However, additional nominations can be made at the 6:30 p.m. meeting.

Each candidate will get 10 minutes for a nomination, second, speech and questions.

The vacancy was initially created by the October death of Paul Luebke, 70, a Democrat who represented Durham for 25 years in the state House.

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Luebke had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2015 and received treatment, but he suffered a sudden return of the cancer. He was running for re-election to a 14th term, and his name remained on the ballot for the general election.

Phil Lehman was appointed to the seat the night before the Nov. 8 election to fill the seat temporarily.

A subset of the Durham County Democratic Party plans to vote on a permanent appointment to finish the two-year term Thursday evening, Burns-Vann said. The subset includes precinct chairs and vice chairs and elected officials who live in the district.

The candidates who have expressed interest in the seat are:

▪ Danielle Adams, an eight-year member of the Durham County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. She is the southern coordinator for Local Progress, an arm of the national nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy.

▪ Kevin Griffin, president and chief executive officer of Durham staffing company Avant Group, LLC.

▪ Shelia Huggins, a private attorney who worked for the city for eight years, most recently as a senior administration manager with the Department of Economic and Workforce Development.

▪ Marcia Morey, Durham County’s chief district judge, who has served on the bench for nearly 18 years.

▪ Aaron Randol, a UNC-Chapel Hill staff member who works with student and employee records.

▪ Sherri Zann Rosenthal, a senior assistant city of Durham attorney. She worked as a contract attorney for the city for six years before becoming an assistant city attorney in 1995.

The meeting will be held at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, 1219 Broad St., in the lecture hall of the ETC Building. It is open to registered Democrats.