Democrats campaigning to become Wake County district attorney are pointing to career experience as the reason why they should be the top prosecutor for one of the state’s biggest counties, replacing longtime DA Lorrin Freeman, who isn’t seeking reelection.

Whoever wins the March 3 Democratic primary is expected to hold the position. Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans in the county, and there are no registered candidates from other parties, and write-in campaigns are usually unsuccessful. 

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Seeking the Democratic nomination are: 

  • Sherita Walton, an attorney for the city of Raleigh who is a former assistant district attorney in Wake County and New York. She has Freeman’s endorsement. 
    • Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel, a former state lawmaker who is a defense lawyer. 
      • Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita, who has spent almost three decades in her role. 

        Nickel is the highest-profile candidate in the race. He won a competitive Triangle-area congressional race in 2022 and has used that platform to raise money and make political connections. Shekita and Walton hope their experience in the Wake DA’s office — and their endorsements from current and former office-holders — will endear them to primary voters. 

        The winner will be faced with tackling nearly 6,000 backlogged low-level cases, according to county data. They'll manage an office of 80 prosecutors which has not grown at the same rate as the county's booming population. Then there's the issue of funding and resource shortages and the need to navigate the role of mental health in violent crime cases.

        Each of the candidates spoke with WRAL about their qualifications and vision for running the office. Watch the full interviews on our YouTube channel.

        Sherita Walton

        Walton, who is endorsed by Freeman, is a former Wake prosecutor who now works as an attorney for the Raleigh Police Department. She cut her teeth at a New York defense firm specializing in white-collar crimes and securities enforcement before joining the district attorney’s office in Manhattan.

        Walton says priority is reducing violent crime by creating a violent crime unit where the most difficult cases are handled by the most experienced prosecutors.

        We asked Walton how she plans to navigate the prevalence of mental health in cases of violent crime. 

        "If there is a mental health concern, an issue, we need to make sure we're having resources and recommendations for what that looks like in the courthouse,” she said. “... Because ultimately, if we're not dealing with those issues, and people are going to continue to cycle, we have to address the behavior. We cannot always be reactive to what has happened, but we have to address the behavior." 

        Beyond the creation of a mental health court, Walton said she wants to increase the office’s transparency and tackle pending misdemeanor cases by creating a quality-of-life courtroom to handle lower-level cases involving property. She also wants to improve the community’s understanding of what she considers the DA's critical role in the justice system.

        "It doesn't take being out late at night for something bad to happen anymore,” she said. “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."

        Melanie Shekita

        A Wake County native, Melanie Shekita has spent her entire career in the Wake DA's office and is endorsed by former Wake County DA Colon Willoughby. A former volunteer firefighter, she now oversees a unit specializing in prosecuting crimes against children.

        When Shekita learned her boss was retiring, she took stock of her decades of experience in the Wake DA’s office and decided to run.

        "I've seen this county and this office grow throughout that 27 years,” she said. “I'm uniquely connected with this community because I have grown up here, moved here in kindergarten, and feel that I know what's best to lead this office forward."

        If she wins, Shekita also plans to create a violent crimes task force. She wants to work with community partners to address youth gun violence and said she will personally prosecute violent felonies.

        "I would like to get some buy-in from our partners in the defense bar and the legal community, to see what they think is working and to see what isn't maybe working or needs to change,” Shekita said. “One of the things that I believe we need to do a better job of is recruiting and retaining experienced prosecutors."

        Her biggest challenge would be supervising the staff of 80, in her estimation.

        "I know what the people in our office want to see,” she said, “and that is an environment where people feel valued, an environment where people come to work wanting to do the hard work."

        Wiley Nickel

        Nickel left Congress after state lawmakers drew new voting lines that would have made reelection almost impossible. He entered the DA race after dropping a campaign for U.S. Senate after former Gov. Roy Cooper entered the race for that Democratic nomination. 

        Nickel says he would approach the DA job a bit differently than Shekita and Walton. 

        "There's so much on the line right now for our state, for our country,” he said. “I'm running for Wake County district attorney because the stakes for our community and our democracy have never been higher. This is a campaign about public safety. It's a campaign about tackling political corruption. My time in Congress was cut short because of Republican gerrymandering. I've got a lot of work left to do."

        Shekita and Walton have suggested that Nickel’s lack of experience prosecuting cases could hinder his ability to run the office. Nickel dismisses those criticisms. 

        "What's important about this job is it's not a practicing attorney,” Nickel said. “The Wake County district attorney doesn't go and do a one month-long jury trial. It's 100,000 cases a year. The experience that matters is running a law firm, which I did, and running a large government office, which I did in Congress. You're there to make big decisions for the community, and that's why I'm uniquely qualified for this role because I've done that."

        Nickel’s campaign ads note his experience working on the campaign for former President Barack Obama. He says he plans to use his influence and connections to fight political corruption and secure funding to double the number of prosecutors and increase the office’s resources.

        "We need to prioritize violent crime, property theft, gun violence,” he said. “Those are the things where I see we need to move more resources toward those. And that's going to be my focus."