Who will Durham Black voters support to replace U.S. Congressman David Price?

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The lineup of potential candidates to replace U.S. Congressman David Price feels like a pileup on Highway 40 during rush hour traffic. The clash between Cary, Chapel Hill and Durham is a reminder of the impact of road rage when too many people are headed in the same direction.

Voters are advised to buckle up while doing their best to avoid reckless drivers.

Rumors of Price’s retirement have circulated for years. Candidates have waited, patiently, for the announcement. State Senator Wiley Nickel, 45, announced his campaign with the news of a whopping $253,000 raised within hours of Price’s press conference. He was ready to go before hearing “ready, set, go.”

Nickel was elected to represent the 16^th state senate district in 2018. He was groomed as part of Vice President Al Gore’s team from 1996 to 2001 and worked as a member of Barack Obama’s White House national advance staff from 2008 until 2012.

Nida Allam, 27, is first Muslim American woman elected to political office in North Carolina. She was sworn in as a member of the Durham Board of County Commissioners on December 7, 2020. With less than one year of service as an elected official, Allam announced her candidacy for congress on Monday, November 8.

Allam served as the Political Director in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and New York for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and as an organizing director for Justice Cheri Beasley’s campaign for the North Carolina Supreme Court.

State Senator Valerie Foushee, 65, joined the legislature in 2012. She represented district 50 (Orange and Durham) in the state house before becoming a State Senator after Ellie Kinnaird retirement from District 23. She has deep roots in Orange County politics, having served on the Board of Education for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School from 1997 to 2008 and the Orange County Board of County Commissioner from 2008-2010.

Floyd McKissick, Jr, 68, is known both for his name and work as a longtime Durham politician. He is the namesake of his father, the former leader of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and founder of Soul City in Warren County, NC. After serving on the Durham City Council from 1993 to 2001, McKissick, Jr. was selected by the Durham Democratic Party to fill the vacancy in the district 20 senate seat after the death of Jeanne Lucas. McKissick was the chairman of the Durham County Democratic Party, which raised questions related to conflict of interest in the selection process.

On March 17, 2004, he was disciplined by the NC State Bar for professional misconduct involving a conflict of interest. The bar determined that McKissick inappropriately represented both sides in a 2000 dispute involving the estate of an elderly man.

McKissick was appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Governor Roy Cooper for a term expiring on June 30, 2025.

Mike Woodard, 62, has served in the North Carolina Senate since 2013. Before being elected to the State Senate, Woodward was a member of the Durham City Council from 2005 to 2013. He’s also an administrator at Duke University and the Duke University Health System.

Price was first elected to Congress in 1986. He was reelected for three terms before losing in 1994 to former Raleigh police chief Fred Heineman by a margin of less than 1%. In 1996, Price defeated Heineman in a rematch. Price has maintained control of the district for 33 years.

Key among Durham Black voters is the role of Tracy Lovett, Price’s longtime district liaison. Lovett is the daughter of Willie C. Lovett, the former chair of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and member of the North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee. Before his death in 1992, Lovett won the primary to represent Durham in the State House Representatives. As a District Liason, Lovett has sustained relationships with Black Durham residents making it easier to embrace Price, a congressman with no natural ties to Durham.  

Wiley’s strength is in Wake County, where he has garnered several high-level endorsements. Foushee, a Black woman, is attractive to Durham’s Black community, but her limited ties to Durham is a challenge before the primary.

McKissick is a known entity with deep ties to the Black community. Some fear his past issues regarding conflict of interest will be used against him in a head-to-head race against a Republican candidate. McKissick, like all Durham based state politicians, has never been challenged by a Republican.

Woodward is candidate with longevity of service. Recently, he fought proposals to make it illegal to teach Black history in public schools. He knows Durham culture and the issues that resonate with residents.

Black voters desire a Black representative. Black women desire a Black woman.

In the race to Congress, Durham Black voters’ matter.