Retired judge wins Durham mayoral race; Chapel Hill re-elects mayor

A month after topping a seven-person primary field, retired judge Elaine O'Neal won the Durham mayoral race on Tuesday.

Posted 12:42 a.m. Nov 3, 2021 — Updated 2:35 a.m. Nov 3, 2021

Matthew Burns

, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Chris Lovingood, WRAL anchor/reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — A month after topping a seven-person primary field, retired judge Elaine O'Neal won the Durham mayoral race on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger won a fourth two-year term in office.

With all precincts reporting, O'Neal had 85 percent of the vote to 15 percent for City Councilwoman Javiera Caballero, according to unofficial results.

Following O'Neal's large margin of victory in the primary, Caballero suspended her campaign three weeks ago. With the move, she retained her seat on the council and pretty much ensured an O'Neal victory in the general election.

O'Neal will become Durham's second female mayor and the first Black woman to hold the position.

She told supporters late Tuesday that she wants to make Durham work for every citizen, make affordable housing more than just an idea and make sure law enforcement and the community work together to make the city a safe place to live.

She also made it clear that she intends to work with Durham's new police chief, Patrice Andrews, and said that addressing local policing needs is a group effort.

"I believe in building relationships with all of our agencies that are law enforcement here in Durham and especially our police department," O'Neal said. "But first of all, we're going to have to have conversations and see what she needs. How can we support her? And, of course, there are six other members of the council, and we hope that we will all be able to come together."

2021 November Municipal Election Results

Incumbent DeDreana Freeman and Mark-Anthony Middleton easily won re-election to the Durham City Council. Freeman topped Marion Johnson, 71 to 29 percent, while Middleton downed Sylvester Williams, 88 to 12 percent, according to unofficial results.

In the race for the open Ward III seat, Leonardo Williams edged out AJ Williams 51 to 49 percent, according to unofficial results.

In Chapel Hill, Hemminger outdistanced Hongbin Gu 61 to 36 percent, with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results.

The race for four seats on the Chapel Hill Town Council was too close to call.

Many major cities, including Raleigh, Fayetteville and Cary, had their elections pushed back to 2022 because delayed census data didn't give them enough time to redraw their council districts.

Twelve other Wake County towns did hold elections on Tuesday, and voters in Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Garner and Morrisville approved an array of bond proposals in each location, including spending on streets, parks and public safety.

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