Local Politics

Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam running for Congress

Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is running for Congress.

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Nida Allam
DURHAM, N.C. — Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is running for Congress.
Allam made history in March 2020 when she became the first Muslim American woman to be elected to office in North Carolina. She was one of five women to win the party's primary for the Durham County Board of Commissioners' five seats, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, finishing fourth, with 39,523 votes.
"I'm fighting for economic and racial justice – and a brighter future," Allam wrote in a Twitter post announcing her campaign, also mentioning her best friends, Yusor Abu-Salha, Abu-Salha's husband, Deah Barakat, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, three Muslim college students who were murdered in Chapel Hill in 2015.

"Three of my dear friends were killed in a hate crime, but investigators and local leaders called it a parking dispute because we don’t have adequate protections from religious discrimination or hate crimes in North Carolina," Allam said during a news conference Monday. "We need hate crime protections at the federal level, and we need action on gun violence that claims the lives of too many Black and brown North Carolinians."

The seat Allam would fill is currently held by Democrat David Price. The longtime congressman announced he will retire when his term ends in 2022.

State Sen. Wiley Nickel, D-Wake, is also running for Congress.

The candidates will file for office in December, and the primary election will be held in March.

"We need a representative that’s actually going to be here, that knows what issues we are going to have to deal with for the rest of our lives," Allam said. "Lived experience is important – being a community organizer – not just my time as an elected official."

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