Three Democrats Vie for Wake County DA in March 3 Primary

Three Democrats will square off in the March 3 Democratic primary for Wake County district attorney as incumbent Lorrin Freeman is not seeking re-election, and party dominance in the county means the primary is widely expected to determine the next DA. A voter reminder lists early voting ending Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m.; primary Election Day is March 3.

The Wake County DA’s office carries statewide weight because Raleigh is the state capital; the office handles political corruption and government-related cases as well as routine prosecutions. The next DA will manage an office of about 80 prosecutors and confront nearly 6,000 backlogged low-level cases, while operating under documented funding and resource shortages and a need to address the role of mental health in violent crime cases. Wake County has grown by more than 200,000 people — roughly 20 percent — in the last decade, making those operational pressures more acute.

Wiley Nickel enters the primary as the highest-profile candidate. Nickel won a competitive Triangle-area congressional race in 2022, briefly ran for U.S. Senate before dropping out to endorse former Gov. Roy Cooper, and has used his political platform to raise money and make connections with numerous elected Democrats in local government and the legislature. He is a defense attorney by training and has never worked as a prosecutor.

Melanie Shekita is a Wake County native who has spent her career inside the Wake DA’s office. Shekita oversees the Special Victims Unit and the unit that prosecutes crimes against children and is described as a 27-year veteran of courtroom work handling sex crimes against children, physical abuse, sexual abuse and homicidal violence. Former Wake County DA Colon Willoughby has endorsed Shekita; she has also served as a volunteer firefighter, and she decided to run when Freeman announced his retirement.

Sherita Walton brings a mix of big-city and local prosecutorial experience and currently serves as a city attorney advising the Raleigh Police Department. Walton previously worked as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office and spent nearly five years in the Wake County DA’s office. Incumbent Lorrin Freeman has endorsed Walton; if elected she would become Wake County’s first Black district attorney. Walton says her “dual perspective as a former prosecutor and police adviser informs her public safety‑first platform as DA,” and she has stated, “Coming from humble beginnings, you tend to make do with what you’ve got,” adding that she plans to “fully audit the office’s operations to find ways to ensure violent offenses take priority on the courthouse calendar.”

Coverage of the race has also included a two-sentence passage not clearly attributed to a single candidate that reads: “It doesn't take being out late at night for something bad to happen anymore. And so it is important that when you're thinking about your DA that you have confidence that, wherever you land on that, if you're falsely accused, or if you're somehow a victim, that you're confident the person who is leading the office can handle and be fair.”

Endorsements split the field in concrete ways: Freeman backing Walton, former DA Colon Willoughby backing Shekita, and Nickel counting support from numerous elected Democrats. With no Republican or third-party candidate on the ballot and write-in bids rarely successful, attention will turn to how each candidate proposes to clear the nearly 6,000-case backlog and steer an 80‑prosecutor office in a county that has seen rapid growth and evolving public-safety challenges.