Last week, over 33,000 Durham County voters cast their votes and selected Clarence Birkhead for Sheriff and Satana Deberry for District Attorney.  We also chose to send experienced leaders to Congress and the school board. David Price will head to the general election in November, and Mike Lee, Natalie Beyer, Bettina Umstead and Matt Sears will return to the school board.   

People’s Alliance PAC would like to thank all the candidates who stood for office in this election.  Our democracy functions best when we have the opportunity to vigorously debate the issues that matter most.  

We came together to support progressive voices for a better Durham.  In all, over 80 pollworkers and volunteers worked on this election. They helped staff 23 precincts on election day and early voting where more than half of all votes were cast.  They talked with thousands of voters and told them why they supported PA PAC-endorsed candidates. Other PA members delivered food, helped set up the March endorsement meeting and participated in interview committees.    We also sent our endorsement mailer to over 40,000 voters and passed out over 15,000 sample ballots.

Election day turnout made the critical difference.  In the race for district attorney, election day voters helped Satana Deberry make up an early voting shortfall and go on to win by eight percent and prevail in over three out of every four precincts.  Countywide, Clarence Birkhead won in nine out of every ten precincts, winning his race two to one. Mike Lee won the race for district one school board by 15 percent, Matt Sears won the race for district three school board three to one, and Natalie Beyer won district four with over 56 percent of the vote besting two other candidates by 15 percent.  Bettina Umstead faced no opponents in her race for district two school board.

Complete election results are available here

PA PAC continues to work for you.  You elected PAC coordinators to make sure the interests of PA members were represented in this election.  You elected us to keep you informed and engaged. You asked us to be stewards of our collective resources and to support the campaigns that reflected our values.  In the coming weeks, we’ll take stock of what worked and how we can improve. We hope that you will take a moment to share your thoughts.