Mayor Bill Bell and three City Council members swamped their challengers in today's election, but kids saw things a little differently.
While Bell took 77 percent of the grownups' vote, he beat challenger Steven L. Williams just 57 percent to 43 percent in the Kids Voting Durham program of the Durham County Cooperative Extension.
In the Ward 1 council race, youngsters chose 22-year-old challenger Donald Hughes over incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden, while in the official election Cole-McFadden won 76 percent of the votes.
The other council races were close. Ward 2 incumbent Howard Clement got 1,159 votes to challenger Matt Drew's 1,096, and in Ward 3 Mike Woodard beat opponent Allan Polak by just 12 votes.
Grownups gave Clement more than 71 percent and Woodard 86.5 percent.
About 2,500 young people cast ballots in Kids Voting, according to program coordinator Carolyn Kreuger.
For Kids Voting, the Octagon Club at Durham School of the Arts prepared Candidate Guides with the candidates' answers to questionnaires about involving young people in local government, making public transportation more youth-friendly and enhancing recreation opportunities for teens among other issues.
The guides even gave a personal touch, detailing candidates’ favorite ice cream and activities when they were young.
