Our choice in Durham’s Senate Dist. 20 primary
When state Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr. resigned from the state Senate in January to join the N.C. Utilities Commission, Durham lost an effective and respected representative in the General Assembly’s upper chamber.
The seat is being temporarily held by Sen. H.M. “Mickey” Michaux, but three candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to run for the Dist. 20 seat that McKissick held since being appointed to it in 2007. In heavily Democratic Durham, the March 3 primary winner is almost certain to win in the November election.
The three Democratic candidates offer a diverse range of experience and similar legislative goals. They are Natalie Murdock, 36, in her first term as Durham County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor; Pierce Freelon, 36, a professor, musician and former board member of the N.C. Arts Council who ran unsuccessfully for Durham mayor in 2017, and Gray Ellis, 47, a Durham family law attorney.
Durham voters really can’t go wrong in this primary. With Ellis, they could cast a vote for diversity and equal rights in the wake of HB2 by sending the first transgender man to the N.C. legislature, or any state legislature. Freelon would be a creative lawmaker who supports a progressive agenda but is committed to building relationships within his party and across the aisle. Murdock is a strong communicator who advocates on behalf of African-American women, a key Democratic constituency that remains underrepresented in elected office.
Of the three, we recommend Murdock. She worked on Democratic Deborah Ross’ campaign for the U.S. Senate, served with the GoTriangle transit agency, was grants coordinator for the Town of Chapel Hill and served as deputy director of communications for the North Carolina Department of Justice. “I’m letting folks know I have the most experience,” she told the Editorial Board.
Murdock has paid her political dues and earned a chance for greater political power. In addition to focusing on clean water, she said she will fight for more money for public schools, including getting all school employees a minimum wage of $15 and ending the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we do our endorsements
Members of the combined Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer editorial boards are conducting interviews and research of candidates in municipal and state elections. The combined board is led by N.C. Opinion Editor Peter St. Onge, who is joined in Raleigh by deputy Opinion editor Ned Barnett and in Charlotte by deputy Opinion editor Paige Masten. Board members also include Observer editor Rana Cash and News & Observer editor Nicole Stockdale.
The editorial board also talks with others who know the candidates and have worked with them. When we’ve completed our interviews and research, we discuss each race and decide on our endorsements.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 4:47 PM.