Durham mayoral candidate Lloyd Phillips has your back. Allegedly. 

That’s what his shirt said when he applied to run back in July. There’s not much more on his mysterious campaign beyond that. 

There’s one thing we do know though — God plays a big role in his campaign. Maybe one day God told Lloyd of his newfound destiny: the Durham mayorship. 

In a world full of transparency and access, maybe we should be a bit more like Phillips. Or maybe not. I really don’t know because I have no idea who he is. 

Phillips filed to run for mayor on July 17, according to the Durham County Board of Elections Instagram page. Not much is known about  Phillips’ campaign or his positions on literally anything. The soft-spoken mayoral candidate has appeared at political forums, so his campaign looks to be real. But there are still some doubts, at least from me. 

The post on the Board of Elections Instagram page shows Phillips wearing a picture with two stick figures, with one of the figures holding the other’s “back.” Above the design are the words “I’ve got your back!” 

One of the commenters wrote, “Is this a joke?” And when first seeing it, you may have the same question. 

When my editor first assigned me to profile Phillips back in early September, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I looked him up, saw the picture and laughed. My kind of candidate. 

What first started as a challenge to reach someone that seemed unreachable, though, has slowly turned into a spiraling question of me asking if Phillips is real. 

I didn’t expect a response to my request for an interview from Durham’s most elusive candidate. 

But one morning I checked my inbox and almost jumped out of bed when I saw an email from Lloyd Phillips. 

Just like I assume Phillips’ response would be in person, the answer was short. 

“Yes, I am available,” Phillips wrote in an email to the Durham Voice. 

I have not received a response to my two follow-up emails requesting a time or place, or any further information at all. Maybe the email is fake. I have no clue. 

That’s the great thing about  Phillips’ campaign and policy stance — it can’t be bad if no one knows what it is. Or, if you are actually concerned with the future of Durham, that’s probably the bad thing. 

With the primary election on Oct. 7, the fact that Phillips’ campaign is still a complete mystery is baffling but also a little humorous. 

The title of his campaign, according to his LinkedIn, is “By the Grace of GOD.” It’s a very fitting name when you understand Phillips’ motivation for running. Well, what we think his motivation is, at least. Who knows with Lloyd.

There are some other hints to who Phillips is on his LinkedIn though. Many of his connections are with people who have relations to the country Trinidad and Tobago. Maybe there’s something there. I would ask him, but as we know, that’s not really an option right now. 

Perhaps the closest thing to a policy stance that Phillips has revealed is in a LinkedIn comment responding to a post from current Mayor Leonardo Williams. 

Williams posted about visiting the British Parliament. 

“Congratulations for what? Using city monies for multiple international junkets instead of visiting the wards of the city he claims to lead. Shame on him,”  Phillips wrote in the comment section. 

So, we know he’s at least somewhat against the current mayor and feels as though things can be done better. Another small nugget of a potential policy is his own post on LinkedIn. 

“Durham N.C. Growth is Great when it is Great for ‘ALL,’”  Phillips wrote. 

It may be the most generic stance a politician can take, but with Phillips you have to take anything you can get. 

All this begs the question — what if he wins? Of course, it’s a highly unlikely scenario. The chances that Phillips is just pranking us all might be higher than the chances of him winning.

But imagine for a second a world where the mayor doesn’t answer his email and has no social media. And the people that vote for him don’t know what they voted for until after the election. That’s Lloyd Phillips. 

It’s a weird phenomenon and maybe a surprising new political tactic to counteract the current heavy polarization — don’t reveal anything about your candidacy until after the election. 

Maybe Lloyd Phillips is about to start a nationwide trend. Who knows. 

But for now, if you see Lloyd, please let me know. I’m still trying to get in contact.