See who won election in races for Durham county commissioners and DPS school board
.jpg "The winners of the 2020 Durham County Board of Commissioners election. Wendy Jacobs, Brenda Howerton, Nida Allam, Heidi Carter and Nimasheena Burns (Left to right, top to bottom)")
It was a night of firsts in races for Durham County commissioner and school board Tuesday.
Two challengers and three incumbents took the top spots in the crowded Democratic primary for Durham County Board of Commissioners.
Nimasheena Burns, director of Communications and Project Management for the N.C. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, finished first among 15 candidates competing for five open seats by nearly 5,000 votes.
With no Republican candidates for commissioner in November, she and Nida Allam are set to be elected to their first terms on the county board.
Allam was elected third vice chair of the N.C. Democratic Party in 2017 — the first Muslim ever elected to the Executive Council.
On her campaign website Allam cited her friendship with Yusor Abu-Salha, one of the three young Muslims killed in Chapel Hill in 2015.
“I reflected and asked myself how can I be content with all the blessings I have been given in this world when there is so much to do to fight injustice, uplift each other, and to make our communities better for future generations,” she wrote. “I’m fighting for a better Durham so that others don’t have to suffer the pain my community did.”
Incumbents Wendy Jacobs, Brenda Howerton and Heidi Carter, who is facing accusations of racism from the county manager that she has called “baseless,” also finished in the top five Tuesday night.
County commissioners set the county budget and property tax rates; allocate money to schools, social services and public safety; and make policies affecting services, the local economy and more for years to come.
Each commissioner is elected to a four-year term and receives $25,417 per year. The county commissioners chair gets $29,920 per year.
Results (57 out of 57 precincts reporting)
| Candidate | Number of Votes | Percentage of Votes |
| Nimasheena Burns | 47,271 | 14.73% |
| Wendy Jacobs | 42,430 | 13.22% |
| Heidi Carter | 41,070 | 12.80% |
| Nida Allam | 39,523 | 12.32% |
| Brenda Howerton | 37,792 | 11.78% |
| Matt Kopac | 24,999 | 7.79% |
| John Rooks, Jr. | 16,737 | 5.22% |
| Michael D. Page | 15,895 | 4.95% |
| LeVon Barnes | 11,674 | 3.64% |
| Nate Baker | 9,581 | 2.99% |
| Tara L. Fikes | 9,218 | 2.87% |
| Regina Mays | 8,949 | 2.79% |
| Fred Foster, Jr. | 5,641 | 1.76% |
| James Hill | 5,176 | 1.61% |
| Patrick Byker | 4,886 | 1.52% |
Durham Public Schools Board of Education
In the only contested race for school board, Alexandra Valladares won the at-large seat, trouncing incumbent Steve Unruhe and challeger Paula Januzzi-Godfrey.
Valladares, who serves on the Durham’s Human Relations Commission, will be the first Latina member of Durham Public Schools Board of Education. According to DPS, 32.8 percent of the students are Hispanic or Latino.
She could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Unruhe said he was disappointed but “honored to have served Durham for 34 years as a teacher and a member of the school board.”
“I am proud of the campaign we ran,” he said.
Unruhe was elected to the school board in 2016 and taught in Durham Public Schools for more than 30 years. He also served two terms as the president of Durham Association of Educators.
Januzzzi-Godfrey has worked in public schools for 20 years, according to her campaign website.
Jovonia Lewis ran unopposed in District A and Xavier Cason ran unopposed in District B.
Results
At-Large:
| Candidate | Number of Votes | Percentage of Votes |
| Alexandra Valladares | 47,900 | 59.93% |
| Steven Unruhe | 22,734 | 28.44% |
| Paula Januzzi-Godfrey | 8,746 | 10.94% |
District A:
▪ Jovonia Lewis: 30,184 votes
District B:
▪ Xavier Cason: 37,306 votes
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 9:01 PM with the headline "See who won election in races for Durham county commissioners and DPS school board."
