Durham voters elect county’s 1st all-female board and 1st Muslim woman commissioner
Durham County has had majority-female county boards since the 1980s. Now it’s going to have a board comprised of all women.
Five women won the Democratic primary for the board’s five seats Tuesday. With no Republican candidates for commissioner in November’s general election, they are the presumptive winners.
Nimasheena Burns, director of Communications and Project Management for the N.C. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, finished first among the 15 candidates. Her 47,271 vote total marked the first time since at least 1972 that a Durham County commissioner candidate received more than 40,000 votes in a primary.
And Nida Allam, who finished fourth, is set to become the first Muslim-American woman to win elected office in the history of North Carolina, according to her campaign. She was elected third vice chair of the N.C. Democratic Party in 2017, the first Muslim elected to the Executive Council.
“Growing up Muslim American I never thought running for office let alone winning and making history would ever be a possibility,” Allam said in a statement.
On her campaign website Allam cited her friendship with Yusor Abu-Salha, one of the three young Muslims killed in Chapel Hill in 2015.
“How can I be content with all the blessings I have been given in this world when there is so much to do to fight injustice, uplift one another and to make our communities healthier,” she said in the statement. “I’m fighting for a better nation so that others don’t have to suffer the pain my community did.”
Wendy Jacobs said she’s excited to work with Allam and Burns. “Both Nida and Nimasheena are really dynamic women who are going to bring a tremendous amount to the board,” she said.
Incumbents Jacobs, Brenda Howerton and Heidi Carter also finished in the top five Tuesday to keep their seats. Incumbent Commissioner James Hill lost.
All five winning women led the rest of the field by more than 10,000 votes.
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper is set later this month to proclaim March 2020 as “Women’s History Month.”
According to the U.S. Census, 52.3% of the Durham County population is female and the county is just one of three in the state to have a majority female board of commissioners.
“We’ll be making history in Durham County,” Jacobs said.
Carter wins amid manager’s allegation
Incumbents Carter, Howerton and Jacobs will be serving together for another four years, after a recent allegation of racism has caused tension on the board.
County Manager Wendell Davis accused Carter of racism, claiming she has an inherent bias against him and “people of color in general.”
While Carter called the accusations “baseless,” Howerton said in an INDY Week report Feb. 18 that some of Carter’s statements are “racist as hell,” The News & Observer previously reported.
In an interview Wednesday, Carter told The N&O it’s fundamental for the manager and the board to have a working relationship and “we’re going to need to work on that.”
Carter also said she’s honored to have the support of Durham after finishing third in the election.
“I’m really grateful for the people (to) whom I am accountable for believing in my work,” she said. Both she and Jacobs said they’re excited to work on expanding Universal Pre-K in Durham, to address problems caused by the County’s high child poverty rates.
Howerton, who was elected for her fourth consecutive term, said she’s excited to be elected to the historic board.
“I think we’ll do great work,” she said. “I’m just so thankful the citizens re-elected me.”
DPS Board of Education newcomer
Alexandra Valladares, who serves on Durham’s Human Relations Commission, trounced incumbent Steven Unruhe in the only contested school board race Tuesday night.
Valladares won 47,900 (59.93%) votes in race for the at-large seat to Unruhe’s 22,734 (28.44%) votes. Paula Januzzi-Godfrey finished third with 8,746 (10.94%) votes.
Valladares will be the first Latina member of Durham Public Schools Board of Education. According to DPS, 32.8 percent of the students are Hispanic or Latino.
“This campaign from the beginning has been about love,” she wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning.
“Love for Durham. Love for the children who are not being served adequately in the system. Love for the sacrifices of loved ones that have led us to this moment,” she continued. “It’s Time! Ya es Hora! This race was won because of community.”
Unruhe said he was disappointed but “honored to have served Durham for 34 years as a teacher and a member of the school board.”
“I am proud of the campaign we ran,” he said.
Unruhe was elected to the school board in 2016 and taught in Durham Public Schools for more than 30 years.
Staff writer Ashad Hajela contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 3:31 PM.
