Moderate Democrats Woodard, Wray lose legislative primaries
North Carolina state Sen. Mike Woodard, a Duke University administrator and 20-year fixture in Durham politics, lost in the Democratic primary Tuesday night.
Challenger Sophia Chitlik collected 57% of the vote in the Durham County Senate district.
Woodard was one of four legislative incumbents to lose in the primary election along with Democratic Rep. Michael Wray and Republican Reps. George Cleveland and Kevin Crutchfield. Two others incumbents narrowly avoided losses with Republican Rep. Sam Watford (50.4%) and Democratic Rep. Cecil Brockman (50.6%), according to unofficial results.
Woodard served on the city council from 2005 to 2012 and has represented the county in the state Senate since 2013. Woodard also suffered a political hit last year, when he lost the race for Durham mayor to Leonardo Williams, gaining just 36% of the vote.
Woodard has long been known as a more moderate, business-friendly Democrat who sometimes votes with Republicans. Chitlik was endorsed by the state Democratic Party’s progressive caucus, as well as both major political organizing groups in Durham, the Durham People’s Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.
In Tuesday's primaries, Woodard was not the only state legislator targeted by party activists. Half a dozen Democrats who have sometimes voted with Republicans on hot-button bills, ranging from transgender issues to industry-friendly changes to lending regulations, faced primary challenges from their left flank. Most of them held on, but not all.
Notably, two moderate Democratic state House incumbents facing progressive challengers — and buoyed by spending from a conservative dark money group — also found themselves in tight races.
Wray, D-Northampton, appeared to lose to Halifax County middle school history teacher Rodney Pierce by just 42 votes, according to unofficial results.
Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, appeared to survived a primary in District 60, beating former NAACP leader James Adams by just 83 votes, according to unofficial results.
Each represents a deep blue district, but came under fire from progressives for voting with Republicans on a number of controversial bills in the 2023 session. Both broke party lines to help the GOP override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes on issues including:
- Allowing consumer loan companies to charge higher fees and interest rates.
- Banning any new energy efficiency rules for residential construction.
- Rolling back environmental protections for wetlands.
The 2023 legislative session also saw Charlotte-area Rep. Tricia Cotham switch parties to give Republicans a veto-proof supermajority in the legislature. Democrats are hoping to break that supermajority in 2024. Some believe it’ll require not only flipping Cotham’s seat back — a top priority for a party out for political revenge — but also using the party primaries in March to unseat members who might be swayed to cross party lines again in the future.
Democrat Nicole Sidman won her party's nomination in a three-way race to challenge Cotham, who ran unopposed, in the general election.
Mecklenburg County voters ousted Cotham's mother, longtime Democratic Mecklenburg County Commissioner Pat Cotham, in her own primary election Tuesday.
It’s in that context that Wray and Brockman faced challengers who are backed by activist groups including Carolina Forward, the Young Democrats of North Carolina and others on the party’s left wing.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve been watching Michael Wray and Cecil Brockman for a while, mostly because their voting records don’t match their district,” Carolina Forward leader Blair Reeves said.
Both lawmakers represent majority-minority districts. Brockman is Black; Wray is white. Brockman strongly contested Reeves’ criticism, saying in an interview before the primary that some progressive activists mistakenly assume all Black voters hold certain political views because of their race.
“Just because it’s a strongly minority district doesn’t mean it will necessarily vote the way you want it to vote,” Brockman said. “You do not own the Black vote.”
Wyatt Gable, a junior at East Carolina University student, defeated Cleveland, who has served 10 terms in the House. Gable won the Onslow County district (House District 14) by 95 votes, according to unofficial results.
Brian Echevarria defeated Crutchfield in House District 82, which includes all of Rowan County and part of Cabarrus County. Crutchfield was seeking his second term in the House. Echevarria lost in the general election in 2022 to Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams in a different district that includes only part of Cabarrus County.
