Barely had word got out of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People's endorsements for the Oct. 6 municipal primary before un-endorsed candidate Darius M. Little had something to say about them.
"I would like to congratulate my friends, Mr. Howard and Mrs. Anne Clement, on obtaining the endorsement," Little said in a prepared news release issued at 11:30 this morning.
But he went on to claim that the Committee's endorsement "doesn't mean as much as in the past."
Thursday night, the Committee came out for incumbent Howard Clement in the Ward 2 race, in which Little is one of four challengers. Newcomer Donald A. Hughes won the Committee's stamp of approval over incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden for the Ward 1 seat.
Little complained that the group's endorsement was decided by 11 Committee members, though there are almost 65,000 black voters registered in Durham. (Actually, 60,380 in the city, according to the Durham County Board of Elections.)
Those numbers show, he said, "It doesn't take a Harvard graduate to figure out that this year's Durham Committee endorsement doesn't mean as much as in the past."
Last month, Little sent Clement an email asking that the council veteran of 26 years drop out of the race in consideration of his age and physical infirmity. Clement has not publicly responded.
The Committee's nod gives Clement a sweep of Durham's three major political action groups. The Friends of Durham and the Durham People's Alliance endorsed his re-election earlier this week.
After an unsuccessful run for city council in 2009 and for the Durham Public Schools board last year, Republican John Tarantino (right) is thinking about trying again.
