Battle for Congress could hinge on North Carolina district vote
The race to replace retiring Rep. Walter Jones in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District comes down to the wire. Democrats have made two primary challenges: to veteran state Rep. David Rouzer, a two-term incumbent, and to former first lady and U.S. Rep. Cynthia Hudson.
With just over three weeks until the November general election, the Democratic candidates are running to keep their party out of the majority of seats in the House of Representatives. Jones easily won reelection in 2016 with 59% of the vote.
Rouzer has focused this week on his strong record in the district over the years. He served one term in Congress from 1991 to 2001, including the last six years as the state’s speaker pro tempore. He has since worked in legislative office and as a lobbyist, and is currently running to return to Congress after his time out of politics.
Hudson, the first woman to serve a full term in Congress, has also kept up with state issues and has had a number of political runs under her belt. She ran unsuccessfully in 2013 after the death of her son, then a young boy, from a rare form of bacterial meningitis.
Republicans hold a 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (and a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate) since the 2010 midterm elections, when Republicans took control of both chambers.
Hudson, the second-longest serving state representative in North Carolina history, has made a name for herself in her six terms as a state senator. She served as president pro tempore of that body, and she made a name for herself as speaker pro tempore in her first term; in her six terms in state senate she was the state’s leader on education issues.
Jones is currently running to become the first African-American speaker pro tempore. He was the first African-American to serve in the House