Here are the candidates for Durham mayor and City Council in 2025 election

Durham voters will elect a mayor and three other members of the City Council this fall. 

Eighteen people have filed to run for office.

In addition to the mayor, ward seats 1, 2 and 3 are on the ballot. All Durham voters will vote for each ward member along with the mayor, regardless of where they live in the city.

All the incumbents — Mayor Leonardo Williams and council members Chelsea Cook, DeDreana Freeman and Mark-Anthony Middleton — filed to run for re-election. 

Williams has four opponents, including Anjanée Bell, the daughter of former Durham Mayor Bill Bell. Freeman faces five challengers for the Ward 1 seat, including Elijah King, the third vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party.

Primary Day is Oct. 7, and Election Day is Nov. 4.

Mayor

Five people are running. One candidate, Angela Reddick, withdrew her candidacy on Aug. 4, according to the Durham County Board of Elections. Her name will not appear on the ballot.

Anjanée Bell

• Background: An artist and dance educator, she is a former arts coordinator for North Carolina State Parks.
• Campaign website: bellfordurham.com
• Endorsements: Former Durham mayor Bill Bell; NC State American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organization; Triangle Central Labor Council

Pablo Friedmann

• Background: The director of the Durham Public Schools Multilingual Resource Center, he is a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic and Latino Affairs.
• Campaign website: pablofriedmann.com
• Endorsements: N/A

Lloyd Phillips

• Background: N/A
• Campaign website: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578988790761
• Endorsements: N/A

Leonardo Williams, incumbent

• Background: A former Durham Public Schools teacher, he was elected mayor in 2023, two years after being elected to the City Council in 2021. He co-owns the Zimbabwean restaurant Zweli’s Ekhaya in the American Tobacco Campus.
• Campaign website: leo4durham.com
• Endorsements: The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC; The Friends of Durham; The Durham People’s Alliance PAC

Rafiq Zaidi

• Background: A local activist
• Campaign website: rafiqformayor.wixsite.com/home
• Endorsements: N/A

Ward 1

The area consists of downtown Durham and neighborhoods like Bragtown, Hayti, Walltown and the West End. Six people are running.

Andrea Cazales

• Background: She is a nurse and community advocate.
• Campaign website: cazalesforcitycouncil.com
• Endorsements: Run for Something Now

DeDreana Freeman, incumbent

• Background: First elected to the Durham City Council in 2017, she is a consultant.
• Campaign Website: dedreanafreeman.com
• Endorsements: The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC; Vote Mama PAC

Elijah King

• Background: A local organizer, he is third vice chair of the N.C. Democratic Party.
• Campaign website: elijahkingfordurham.com
• Endorsements: LGBTQ+ Victory Fund; Run for Something Now

Matt Kopac

• Background: He serves on the Durham Planning Commission and ran for the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 2022.
• Campaign website: mattfordurham.com
• Endorsements: The Durham People’s Alliance PAC; The Friends of Durham

Samaria McKenzie

• Background: She is a marketing specialist and real estate agent.
• Campaign website: samariamckenzieforbullcity.org
• Endorsements: N/A

Sheryl Smith

• Background: A community organizer and advocate against gun violence, she lost her son in a fatal shooting in 2005.
• Campaign website: N/A
• Endorsements: N/A

Ward 2

Ward 2 makes up the southern and southeastern parts of Durham. Three people are running.

Shanetta Burris

• Background: She is a local organizer and double graduate of N.C. Central University.
• Campaign website: shanetta4durham.com
• Endorsements: The People’s Alliance PAC; Run for Something Now; NC State American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organization

Mark-Anthony Middleton, incumbent

• Background: He was first elected in 2017 and became mayor pro tempore three years later. He also serves as a pastor and is a former leader of the N.C. League of Municipalities
• Campaign website: middleton4durham.com
• Endorsements: The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC; The Friends of Durham

Ashley Robbins

• Background: An assistant technology manager at Wake Technical Community College, she is a former graduate student and accessibility coordinator at N.C. Central University.
• Campaign website: bullcityvanguard.weebly.com
• Endorsements: N/A

Ward 3

Ward 3 encompasses western Durham. Four people are running. 

Chelsea Cook, incumbent

• Background: Appointed to the Durham City Council in 2024, she is an assistant clinical professor of law at Duke University, focusing on civil justice litigation and housing rights.
• Campaign website: chelseacookfordurham.com
• Endorsements: The People’s Alliance PAC

Diana Medoff

• Background: She is a third grade teacher at Duke School.
• Campaign website: dianafordurham.com
• Endorsements: The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC; The Friends of Durham

Terry McCann

• Background: He is a math teacher at J.D. Clements Early College.
• Campaign website: mccannfordurhamcitycouncil.com
• Endorsements: N/A

Durant Long

• Background: He is a recent graduate of UNC Asheville.
• Campaign website: durantfordurham.com
• Endorsements: N/A

For more information about the election, go to the Durham County Board of Elections website, www.dcovotes.dconc.gov.

This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 12:42 PM.

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

919-829-4532

Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.