From Congress to the NC General Assembly, Blue Devils run for office across the country

With midterm elections just two weeks away, you can expect to see several Duke alumni and previous employees on your ballot.

Some are candidates in national races, while others are running for local positions. Several graduated from the Law School and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, and some obtained degrees from Duke's Fuqua School of Business and Duke School of Medicine. 

US Senate

Cheri Beasley, Law School ‘18, is running in one of the most contentious elections across the country to represent North Carolina as the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate.

After earning her juris doctor from the University of Tennessee College of Law, Beasley received a Master of Laws from Duke Law. From 2019 to 2020, Beasley served as the chief justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. In the 2020 election, Beasley lost her re-election bid by just 401 votes to Republican Paul Newby, Trinity ‘77.  Before her appointment as chief justice, Beasley was an associate justice on the Court from 2012-2019.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul, School of Medicine ‘88, has represented Kentucky in the U.S Senate since 2011. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. His father, Ron Paul, School of Medicine ‘61, was a 12-term U.S. representative from Texas and a three-time presidential candidate. Rand Paul was originally critical of former President Donald Trump in 2016 but later became one of his key allies in the Senate.

US House of Representatives

Democratic Rep. Mike Levin, Law School ‘05, is running to secure a third term in the U.S. House to represent California’s 49th Congressional District. He is assigned to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Committee on Natural Resources and has experience working as an attorney for environmental and energy issues.

Blue Devils are also running to represent the Duke community in the N.C. General Assembly. 

Sen. Mike Woodard, a Democrat, has represented District 22 in the North Carolina State Senate since 2013 and is running for another term. Woodard used to work for Duke and Duke Health as a financial administrator, and served on the Durham City Council from 2005-2012. District 22 only included East Campus in previous elections, but because of the 2020 redistricting cycle, Woodard will represent Duke’s entire campus if he wins. 

Ray Ubinger, Trinity ’87, is also running to represent Senate District 22 as the candidate for the Libertarian Party. Ubinger previously wrote to the Chronicle that he was not seeking votes and was just “buying permission to vote for [himself].”

Guy Meilleur is the Libertarian candidate for N.C. House District 30, which includes Duke’s campus. Meilleur is a “board-certified master arborist” and was previously an instructor at Duke.

Judicial Races

Many Blue Devils are running for positions throughout the North Carolina court system. Richard Deitz, Law School ‘20, earned his Masters of Law from Duke Law, and is the Republican candidate for seat three of the state Supreme Court. He is currently a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Democrat Darren Jackson, Law School ‘96, is seeking re-election to the Court of Appeals. Republican John Tyson, Fuqua ’88, is also seeking re-election to the Court of Appeals. 

Julee Tate Flood is a first-time Republican candidate for the Court of Appeals. She was previously a faculty member in Duke’s Paralegal Program and currently works as an attorney on the court.

At the county level, Aminah Thompson, Trinity ‘03, is running for judge of the Durham County Clerk of Superior Court. She is currently a judge of the Durham County Administrative Court.

Satana Deberry, Law School ‘94 and Fuqua ‘06, is seeking re-election as Durham county’s district attorney. 

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