Elaine O'Neal (politician)

Elaine O'Neal
Elaine O'Neal.png
Mayor of Durham, North Carolina
Assumed office
December 6, 2021
Preceded bySteve Schewel
Personal details
Born1962 (age 59–60)
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationNorth Carolina Central University (BS, JD)

Elaine O'Neal (born 1962) is an American attorney, academic administrator, judge, and politician serving as the mayor of Durham, North Carolina. O'Neal is the city's first female African-American mayor. Prior to serving as mayor, O'Neal was the first woman appointed as chief district court judge in Durham County and the first woman North Carolina Superior Court judge in Durham County. As a judge, she worked to end the school-to-prison pipeline in North Carolina and advocated for LGBT adoption in the United States. She served as an interim dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2018.

Early life and education

O'Neal was born in Durham in 1962 and grew up in the West End community, spending much of her childhood at the Pauli Murray Family Home. She is the youngest of five children. Her parents were active in the local community; her mother, Nakoda, worked in electoral precincts and served as a school Parent–teacher association president and her father, Rueben, was a custodian and the treasurer of their church. As a child, O'Neal played the tambourine at her church.

She was educated in Durham Public Schools and graduated from Hillside High School, where she was co-captain of the color guard, in 1980. O'Neal attended North Carolina Central University, where she was a member of Delta Sigma Theta and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1984. She received her Juris Doctor from the North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Career

O'Neal served as a judge of the North Carolina District Court from 1994 to 2011 and was the first woman in Durham County to be named a Chief District Court judge. As a judge, she advocated for same-sex adoption and LGBT rights. She served as a judge of the North Carolina Superior Court from 2011 to 2018 as the first woman Superior Court Judge in Durham County. In 2015, O'Neal was appointed as the Chairwoman of the Superintendent's Code of Student Conduct Task Force for Durham Public Schools, focusing on ending the school-to-prison pipeline. In June 2018, O'Neal retired as a judge and was selected as interim dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law. That same year, O'Neal was appointed as Chair of the Racial Equity Task Force for Durham by Mayor Steve Schewel.

O'Neal was elected as the first African-American woman Mayor of Durham in 2021, succeeding Steve Schewel. She received two-thirds of the vote in a seven-way Democratic primary election on October 5, 2021. City councilwoman Javiera Caballero, also a Democrat running for mayor, suspended her campaign on October 11, 2021 and ceded the election to O'Neal.

O'Neal is a member of the Durham County Bar Association and the George H. White Bar Association.

Personal life

O'Neal is a practicing Baptist and attends First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham. She is a board member of the non-profit organization Made in Durham.


This page was last updated at 2022-11-06 05:42 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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