Kelly Kenoyer: Alright, Ben, this straw poll has finally come to pass.
Ben Schachtman: Yes, and here are the results: incumbent Clifford Barnett lost the poll, and the county party named Cassidy Santaguida, Chakema Clinton-Quintana, and JC Lyle as party-backed candidates. The county democratic party will also support Bill Saffo for mayor over challenger Jonathan Barfield.
KK: Right – and this is, in some ways like the straw poll in 2023 — with some notable differences.
Related: Straw poll narrows NHC Democrat’s slate for Wilmington City Council from four to three (2023)
BS: Yeah, in 2023 we had incumbent Kevin Spears, and challengers Salette Andrews, David Joyner, and Marlowe Foster. The Democratic Party Chair, Jill Hopman, was kind of new to her spot. And she foresaw a problem with there being more democratic candidates than spots.
KK: That they’d split up the democratic votes and leave space for a Republican to get onto council, right? There were a few Republican challengers, and Hopman was worried about them slipping through because of a split democratic electorate. The city is generally more liberal than the county at large, but that ticket splitting could have made a significant difference.
BS: Exactly. So they held a straw poll. There was a forum, which I hosted in 2023 and again this year, for candidates — although this year Barfield didn’t participate — and then an opportunity for mediation, and finally a vote. The poll asks hundreds of party officials and volunteers to vote for who they think the best candidates are. That includes people who live outside city limits, who would not be able to vote in the municipal election.
KK: Why should people who can’t vote in the election help decide the candidates? Would they really be a good representative of the views of city residents?
BS: That’s a large part of why this was controversial. Hopman's argument was that it would take everyone from the Democratic party, including volunteers who lived in the county, to help doorknock and campaign for these city candidates. But a lot of Black Democratic party members worried it would lead to bias in the process, especially against Black candidates. And the candidate who got dropped in the process was Marlowe Foster — a Black Democrat. He ended up running as an independent and lost by a substantial margin — and all three candidates supported by the party won the race.
KK: Right: I think Hopman felt vindicated by that result. But we all heard some grumbling from voters that it felt like the party was only willing to have one black candidate, and they chose the incumbent. Foster is a precinct chair now, so he has returned to the fold of the party since that race.
BS: Fast forward to 2025, and we had a similar situation: four candidates running as Democrats, three slots. Again, two are Black, two are White, and there’s a Black incumbent. We also have two Democrats running for mayor: Incumbent Bill Saffo, and Former New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield.
Related: With Saffo and Barfield running for mayor, NHC Democratic Party plans straw poll
KK: Right – but this year, the Black incumbent, Clifford Barnett, lost. Now we have an all-female slate, even though some have more limited name recognition. And the party chose the white incumbent for mayor instead of the Black challenger — though Barfield also refused to participate in this poll.
BS: Right, and I’ll say there are a lot of feelings about this. Some were happy to see the all-female slate, others felt like these were the candidates who performed the best during the forum — irrespective of race or gender. I heard from Hopman — and also councilman David Joyner — that they personally wanted to see Barnett supported.
KK: So not everyone was happy.
BS: No – I’ve heard a lot of criticism of the outcome, and the poll in general. Especially from black leaders, including Barfield, who told WECT the poll reminded him of the quote "Democratic party of 1898" — which, was at the time a white supremacist organization, which helped lead a coup and massacre.
KK: That is some strongly worded criticism.
BS: Absolutely – and, look, the optics are not good. Barnett is a pastor, an important figure in the Black community, and an incumbent, and the party is supporting two white women over him. But I’ll also say, I think the number two spot went to Clinton-Quintana, a Black woman — and that’s not something the Democratic party of 1898 would have supported. Still, though, there’s definitely going to be some fallout from this poll.
KK: Ok, so what comes next? We’ve already heard that Barfield has no interest in dropping out — since he didn’t really consider the straw poll legitimate — what about Barnett?
BS: We’re waiting to hear on that. Technically, the filing period doesn’t even start until next week.
KK: Right, it runs from the 7th to the 18th — maybe we’ll get some surprises, or even a Republican mayoral candidate. But, for now, Ben, thanks for being here.
BS: Happy to do it.
