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Sylvester Williams
Sylvester Williams ran for election for Mayor of Durham in North Carolina. He lost in the primary on October 10, 2023.
Williams was a candidate for mayor of Durham, North Carolina. He was defeated in the primary election on October 10, 2017. Click here to read Williams' response to Ballotpedia's 2017 municipal candidate survey.
Williams was previously a candidate for mayor of Durham in 2011 and 2013.[1][2] Mayoral elections in Durham are officially nonpartisan, and Williams identifies as an independent.[3]
Biography
Sylvester Williams was born in Durham, North Carolina, and lives in Durham. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and business.[3] Williams' career experience includes working as a pastor and a retired financial analyst. He served as a member of the Youth Services Advisory Board and as the chair of the Durham Committee On The Affairs Of Black People.[4][5]
Elections
2023
See also: Mayoral election in Durham, North Carolina (2023)
General election
General election for Mayor of Durham
Leonardo Williams defeated Mike Woodard in the general election for Mayor of Durham on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Leonardo Williams (Nonpartisan) | 63.5 | 24,366 |
 | Mike Woodard (Nonpartisan) | 36.2 | 13,899 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 132 | ||
| Total votes: 38,397 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Durham
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Durham on October 10, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Leonardo Williams (Nonpartisan) | 51.2 | 12,206 |
| ✔ | | Mike Woodard (Nonpartisan) | 29.0 | 6,902 |
 | DeDreana Freeman (Nonpartisan) | 14.2 | 3,381 | |
| Marshall Williams, Jr (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 502 | ||
 | Sylvester Williams (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 348 | |
| Charlitta Burruss (Nonpartisan) | 0.9 | 225 | ||
| Nick Pettiford (Nonpartisan) | 0.8 | 202 | ||
| Jontae Dunston (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 66 | ||
| Total votes: 23,832 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Williams in this election.
2021
See also: City elections in Durham, North Carolina (2021)
General election
General election for Durham City Council Ward 2
Incumbent Mark-Anthony Middleton defeated Sylvester Williams in the general election for Durham City Council Ward 2 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mark-Anthony Middleton (Nonpartisan) | 87.5 | 25,993 |
| Sylvester Williams (Nonpartisan) | 12.0 | 3,555 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 158 | ||
| Total votes: 29,706 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Durham City Council Ward 2
Incumbent Mark-Anthony Middleton and Sylvester Williams defeated Robert Curtis, Jr. in the primary for Durham City Council Ward 2 on October 5, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark-Anthony Middleton (Nonpartisan) | 85.9 | 16,510 |
| ✔ | | Sylvester Williams (Nonpartisan) | 9.1 | 1,748 |
| Robert Curtis, Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 5.0 | 966 | ||
| Total votes: 19,224 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2019
See also: Mayoral election in Durham, North Carolina (2019)
General election
General election for Mayor of Durham
Incumbent Steve Schewel defeated Sylvester Williams in the general election for Mayor of Durham on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Steve Schewel (Nonpartisan) | 83.3 | 29,063 |
| Sylvester Williams (Nonpartisan) | 16.0 | 5,568 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 248 | ||
| Total votes: 34,879 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
The following candidates ran in the primary election for mayor of Durham.[6]
| Mayor of Durham, Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Steve Schewel |
51.04% | 12,998 |
| Farad Ali |
29.14% | 7,421 |
| Pierce Freelon | 15.94% | 4,059 |
| Sylvester Williams | 1.33% | 338 |
| Kershemia Ramirez | 1.16% | 296 |
| Tracy Drinker | 0.99% | 251 |
| Michael Johnson | 0.40% | 101 |
| Total Votes | 25,464 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "10/10/2017 Official Primary Election Results - Durham," accessed October 27, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sylvester Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Sylvester Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Sylvester Williams did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Candidate survey
Williams participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[7] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Addressing poverty[8] | ” |
| —Sylvester Williams (October 5, 2017)[3] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
| Housing | Government transparency | ||
| K-12 education | Candidate did not provide a response | ||
| Unemployment | Candidate did not provide a response | ||
| Crime reduction/prevention | Candidate did not provide a response | ||
| Civil rights | Environment | ||
| Homelessness | City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | ||
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| State | |
| Public outreach/education programs. Increased salaries to encourage police officers to live in the city. | |
| Focusing on small business development | |
| Hope that the citizens have for a better Durham | |
| Poverty rate |
Additional themes
In response to a question from The Herald-Sun about why he was running for office, Williams said:
| “ |
Growth in Durham is uneven, with affordable housing being one of the great challenges. Title VI Complaint was filed and accepted based on the state legislature, former Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Department of City and Regional Planning UNC-Chapel Hill either admitting, alluding to or showing that the practice of institutional racism impacted the lives of low-income people and minorities.[8] |
” |
| —Sylvester Williams (2017)[4] | ||
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ WRAL, "Durham Mayoral Race Offers Choice of Stability or Change," November 1, 2011
- ↑ WRAL, "Bell Easily Wins Seventh Term as Durham Mayor," November 5, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "Sylvester Williams's Responses," October 5, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Herald-Sun, "Who's Running for Office in Durham and Why," July 21, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Sylvester Williams for Durham City MAYOR," accessed October 4, 2017
- ↑ Durham Board of Elections, "Candidate Detail List," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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