Up on the forum stage, 38-year-old Durham mayoral candidate Pablo Friedmann has an awkward way about him—all arms, legs, and a wry smile. He immediately launches into the weeds of policy. Up close, he’s much the same.

Friedmann is up against four other candidates in the Oct. 7 primary election, after which the two candidates with the most votes will compete for the mayor’s seat in November. If elected, Friedmann would be Durham’s first Latino mayor.

Originally from San Diego, Friedmann graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2009 with a degree in International Studies, settling in Durham in 2011. He grew up speaking Spanish as the child of Mexican immigrants.

“As a kid, I didn’t think speaking Spanish was a superpower. Nobody taught me that–like, I just grew up thinking that it was a deficit,” Friedmann said. “And now I think as a country, we’re in a better place. But just imagine if at an early age, I could have cultivated my linguistic talents, and people could have seen that. That would have been a superpower, right? The ability to navigate to different communities.”

Today, Friedmann works in Durham Public Schools as the Director of the Multilingual Resource Center, where he oversees interpretation and translation services, community outreach and family support, according to the DPS website. He has not served in elected office.

Laura Loeza describes how Friedmann helped her and her children through school, as a primarily Spanish-speaking Latina parent of two children.

“He helped me a lot in terms of how to look for help, how to look for programs for us Latinos,” Loeza said. “Because they never offer that in school, you need to look for it.”

Friedmann said the main issues of his campaign are development, fair taxes and housing. He hopes to cultivate dialogue between the city and its residents in decision-making about the city’s development.

“Some very controversial resolutions have been handled in Durham in ways that sort of aggravated the community when it didn’t need to be that way,” Friedmann said. “I think there’s a way of giving everyone their two or three minutes.

Other policy proposals of his include reexamining city housing efforts like Forever Home, Durham, an affordable housing initiative by the City of Durham, for maximum efficiency, and possibly looking into using city-owned property to develop affordable housing options. Friedmann’s platform also includes fair taxing policies with increased taxes on tax-exempt non-profit organizations like Duke University.

At first glance, Friedmann is a solid candidate, with strong policy positions and a passion for change. But a peek behind the curtain reveals a campaign struggling to get its bearings.

Around Durham, there are no “Vote for Pablo” signs. The campaign has not distributed any promotional materials aside from stickers and on social media, though Friedmann noted that the campaign plans to print some signs ahead of the election. Friedmann was a latecomer to the 2025 Durham municipal race, filing to run on July 17th, the last day before the city deadline.

Friedmann is semi-active on Instagram, with a handful of posts on the campaign page since the account’s creation in July 2025. More engagement can be found on Facebook, where a few posts featuring Friedmann garner a couple dozen likes and some supportive comments, usually in Spanish.

Friedmann’s campaign team consists of himself, his sister, and Josue Cordova. Cordova was initially the campaign manager, but Friedmann said Cordova stepped back into a “different role” that better suited his strengths.

Friedmann has faced questions of workplace misconduct, and has been the subject of a formal complaint made to the Durham Public School system that did not result in a punishment, according to documents obtained by the Durham Voice.

Former DPS Spanish interpreter Tonita Flowers alleged that she was subject to bullying and harassment by Friedmann in the workplace. In the complaint, Flowers claimed that in March 2022, Friedmann damaged a cubicle door while slamming it open to reprimand Flowers at work. The complaint was filed in 2022 but was later resolved after Flowers moved to a new work location.

Friedmann denounced these allegations and said that as an administrator, he has had to hold many people, regardless of identity, accountable to achieve results.

“I’ve had to hold a lot of people accountable, and that’s just part of the work of an administrator,” Friedmann said. “You have high expectations. Unfortunately, sometimes some people won’t meet them, and the reality is like you’re going to have honest conversations. That’s the work of a manager.”

Special Projects Support Administrator at DPS, Lois Murphy, has worked with Friedmann and has doubts about his candidacy.

“I do not believe he cares about DPS,” Murphy said. “I believe it’s just a job and maybe a stepping stone for him.”

Others applaud Friedmann’s work, praising his work helping Spanish-speaking families access resources within the system. Ivan Almonte is one of those supporters.

Almonte cannot vote in the Durham election or help directly with Friedmann’s campaign. Instead, he supports the campaign online when he can by posting about Friedmann or sharing his endorsements in the Durham community group.

“Pablo, he has been in the community since he got here to Durham,” Almonte said. “He has been involved in these efforts, you know, especially advocating for the immigrant community.”

His campaign continues, as Friedmann continues to make appearances at city forums, town and non-profit events. But he said he isn’t sure what to expect from the election.

“I think there’s a lot of frustration among voters,” Friedmann said. “This is the city of Durham. That’s why I ran, because I heard those frustrations. We’ll see where the voters land. The voters will humble us.”