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Municipal elections in Durham County, North Carolina (2020)

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2022
2018
2020 Durham County elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: December 20, 2019 (partisan candidates); July 6, 2020 (soil & water conservation district candidates)
Primary election: March 3, 2020
General election: November 3, 2020
Election stats
Offices up: County board of commissioners, county register of deeds, superior court judgeships, district court judgeship, and soil and water conservation districts supervisor
Total seats up: 11
Election type: Partisan
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2020

Durham County, North Carolina, held general elections for county board of commissioners, county register of deeds, superior court judgeships, a district court judgeship, and soil and water conservation districts supervisor on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for March 3, 2020. The filing deadline for candidates running to represent the soil and water conservation district was July 6, 2020.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

North Carolina modified its absentee/mail-in voting and early voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: The witness signature requirement on completed absentee ballots decreased from two to one. The receipt deadline was extended to 5 p.m. on November 12, 2020, for ballots postmarked on or before Election Day.
  • Early voting: Early voting sites were required to be open for at least 10 hours on the weekends of October 17-18, 2020, and October 24-25, 2020. Counties had to open at least one early voting site per 20,000 registered voters.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Elections

Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.

Board of commissioners

General election

General election for Durham County Board of Commissioners (5 seats)

Nida Allam, Nimasheena Burns, incumbent Wendy Jacobs, incumbent Brenda Howerton, and incumbent Heidi Carter won election in the general election for Durham County Board of Commissioners on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Nida Allam
Nida Allam (D)
 
20.1
 
122,947
Nimasheena Burns (D)
 
20.1
 
122,555
Image of Wendy Jacobs
Wendy Jacobs (D)
 
20.0
 
122,432
Brenda Howerton (D)
 
20.0
 
122,328
Heidi Carter (D)
 
19.7
 
120,436

Total votes: 610,698
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Durham County Board of Commissioners (5 seats)

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Durham County Board of Commissioners on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Nimasheena Burns
 
14.7
 
47,776
Image of Wendy Jacobs
Wendy Jacobs
 
13.2
 
42,888
Heidi Carter
 
12.8
 
41,501
Image of Nida Allam
Nida Allam
 
12.3
 
39,977
Brenda Howerton
 
11.8
 
38,227
Matt Kopac
 
7.8
 
25,220
Image of John Rooks  Jr.
John Rooks Jr.
 
5.2
 
16,897
Michael Page
 
4.9
 
16,046
Image of LeVon Barnes
LeVon Barnes
 
3.7
 
11,866
Image of Nate Baker
Nate Baker
 
3.0
 
9,700
Tara Fikes
 
2.9
 
9,345
Regina Mays
 
2.8
 
9,075
Fred Foster Jr.
 
1.8
 
5,694
Image of James Hill
James Hill
 
1.6
 
5,253
Patrick Byker
 
1.5
 
4,937

Total votes: 324,402
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Register of deeds

General election

General election for Durham County Register of Deeds

Incumbent Sharon Davis won election in the general election for Durham County Register of Deeds on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sharon Davis
Sharon Davis (D)
 
100.0
 
151,357

Total votes: 151,357
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Sharon Davis advanced from the Democratic primary for Durham County Register of Deeds.

Judicial

North Carolina Superior Court

District 6A

General election

General election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6A

Incumbent Alma L. Hinton won election in the general election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6A on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Alma L. Hinton (D)
 
100.0
 
19,354

Total votes: 19,354
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Alma L. Hinton advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6A.

District 6B

General election

General election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6B

Incumbent Cy A. Grant won election in the general election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6B on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cy A. Grant
Cy A. Grant (D)
 
100.0
 
22,923

Total votes: 22,923
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Cy A. Grant advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 6B.

District 14A

General election

General election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 14A

Incumbent Orlando F. Hudson won election in the general election for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 14A on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Orlando F. Hudson
Orlando F. Hudson (D)
 
100.0
 
28,714

Total votes: 28,714
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Orlando F. Hudson advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division Judicial District 14A.

North Carolina District Court

District 14-Seat 7

General election

General election for North Carolina 14th Judicial District

Incumbent Shamieka Rhinehart won election in the general election for North Carolina 14th Judicial District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Shamieka Rhinehart
Shamieka Rhinehart (D)
 
100.0
 
150,958

Total votes: 150,958
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Shamieka Rhinehart advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina 14th Judicial District.

Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor

General election

General election for Durham Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor

Anjali Boyd defeated Jillian Riley, Terence Priester, Jan Cromartie, and Patrick Poer in the general election for Durham Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Anjali Boyd
Anjali Boyd (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
45.5
 
68,001
Image of Jillian Riley
Jillian Riley (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
23.7
 
35,415
Image of Terence Priester
Terence Priester (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
12.8
 
19,088
Jan Cromartie (Nonpartisan)
 
9.5
 
14,110
Patrick Poer (Nonpartisan)
 
7.5
 
11,195
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.0
 
1,483

Total votes: 149,292
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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Additional elections on the ballot

See also: North Carolina elections, 2020

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About the county

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Durham County, North Carolina
Durham County North Carolina
Population 324,833 10,439,388
Land area (sq mi) 287 48,623
Race and ethnicity**
White 50.9% 67.6%
Black/African American 35.6% 21.4%
Asian 5% 3%
Native American 0.3% 1.2%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.1%
Other (single race) 3.3% 3.2%
Multiple 5% 3.6%
Hispanic/Latino 13.6% 9.5%
Education
High school graduation rate 89.6% 88.5%
College graduation rate 49.5% 32%
Income
Median household income $62,812 $56,642
Persons below poverty level 13.5% 14%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Six of 100 North Carolina counties—6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Bladen County, North Carolina 9.39% 1.97% 2.07%
Gates County, North Carolina 9.07% 4.11% 5.22%
Granville County, North Carolina 2.49% 4.54% 6.58%
Martin County, North Carolina 0.43% 4.65% 4.64%
Richmond County, North Carolina 9.74% 2.95% 1.50%
Robeson County, North Carolina 4.27% 17.41% 13.78%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won North Carolina with 49.8 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 46.2 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, North Carolina voted Democratic 53.5 percent of the time and Republican 25 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, North Carolina voted Republican all five times with the exception of the 2008 presidential election.[1]

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in North Carolina. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[2][3]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 40 out of 120 state House districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 38.3 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 44 out of 120 state House districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 36.4 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 80 out of 120 state House districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 22.7 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 76 out of 120 state House districts in North Carolina with an average margin of victory of 27.7 points. Trump won five districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

See also

Durham County, North Carolina North Carolina Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes