JONESBORO — When it comes to selecting a candidate for political office, Evan Durham keeps an open mind.
He considers himself a centrist and he remains open to doing so again in the future. In 2022, he was one of the 200,000 voters in Georgia who supported both Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
“The Republican side of me is for fiscal responsibility. I do believe in that,” he said. “But I do not agree with either party 100%. I never have.”
The upcoming presidential election in November is different. Durham, 38, plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
“The other option is just not acceptable at all,” he said, referring to former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee. He said Trump’s campaign rally in Atlanta this month amounted to “doom and gloom.”
A Clayton County resident, Durham knows his vote is important. Although the metro Atlanta county has been a Democratic stronghold for decades, it was the massive turnout of voters who showed up to cast a ballot in 2020 that turned the tide. More than 95,000 people from Clayton voted, an increase of more than 19,000 people from the 2016 election. The vast majority of those votes went to Joe Biden, with Durham among them.
However, watching Biden’s performance in the June debate against Trump led Durham to conclude that Biden should step aside.
“His age was a factor. Does he have the ideas? Sure. I agree with most of them, not all of them,” he said. “But the presentation was just not there. That was a hindrance for him and the Democratic Party as a whole.”
Durham also is concerned about proposals in Project 2025, a sprawling list of plans to increase the power of the presidency and undo many core components of the federal government. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has taken credit for writing the blueprint, and while Trump has attempted to distance himself from the playbook, dozens of former members of his administration and campaigns were involved in its development.
“That document is scary,” said Durham, who is particularly alarmed by the reclassification of certain government workers as political appointees, which could require them to become more loyal to individual leaders rather than serving the nation.
“You have to have people who are going to tell you, ‘No.’ You have to have people around you who will disagree,” he said.
Durham, who works in human resources for Georgia Tech, knows about disagreement. Members of his family are Trump supporters.
“We’ve had discussions and definitely had disagreements,” he said.
But his parents also raised him to think for himself. “We were definitely that type of family that’s like, ‘OK, listen to both sides and you may come to your own conclusion.’ ”
In Harris, he sees a chance to move forward, not backward.
“What Kamala Harris is offering is a sensibility, an understanding and a vision for the future,” he said. “I don’t know what the Republicans’ vision is for the future. Everything that they talk about is something from back in the 1950s. Why are we going back there?”
He supports Harris’ stance on reproductive rights.
“A woman should be able to choose to do whatever she wants with her body,” he said. “With the other party, you can’t do whatever you want with your body. And I don’t know why. They’re supposed to be about small government, and yet the government is telling you what to do. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Looking ahead, Durham hopes Harris talks more about her plans for the economy, health care and child care.
“I’m not for any more tax cuts for anyone who makes above $400,000,” he said.
Durham also said he had supported Biden’s student debt forgiveness proposals and his approach to the war between Israel and Hamas and “the way he’s trying to diplomatically handle the situation.”
Although his first choice for a Harris running mate was Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Durham said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “could bring significant strength to Kamala Harris’ campaign through his regional appeal, experience, policy alignment and military background.”
His relatively low name recognition would allow the campaign to define Walz for voters, he said.
As a Black man, Durham has also struggled with Trump’s remarks about race.
“I’m not sure where to place Trump on the racist spectrum. When you say, ‘Oh, I’ve been to jail. The Black people are going to like me now.’ Well, Trump, I’ve never been to jail. So what does that mean?” he said. “Maybe that’s something that will strike a chord with people who are ignorant to politics. But there’s more than that for me.”
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