Rep. Don Davis could be facing a familiar challenger next November, in what is anticipated to be one of North Carolina’s tightest House races.
Retired Army Col. Laurie Buckhout announced Wednesday on a local radio station she’s running in the Republican primary for North Carolina’s 1st District.
“I’m coming back home to run for the 1st Congressional seat,” Buckhout said on the radio show Talk of the Town with host Henry Hinton. “We’re going to win it.”
Buckhout, who left her post as the White House’s assistant national cyber director for policy in October, narrowly lost to Davis in 2024.
But the district looks different now. Republicans in the state Legislature redrew the congressional lines in October, making the 1st District, which now spans the northeast part of the state from the Virginia border to the coast, more conservative.
In her last run for Congress, Buckhout campaigned on tightening border security, lowering inflation and protecting gun rights. She secured Trump’s endorsement and raised about $4.7 million, per FEC filings.
She came within 6,307 votes of Davis in 2024.
The Republican primary is crowded. Other candidates include Republican state Senator Bobby Hanig, Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, Lenoir County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Eric Rouse, and family law attorney Ashley-Nicole Russell.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ official campaign arm, doesn’t endorse in open primaries and is “having conversations with all Republican candidates who have filed,” per a source familiar.
Republicans are eager to flip the 1st District — which has repeatedly been impacted by redistricting. Each time Davis has run for Congress, his district’s boundaries have been different.
The district is in a rural part of the state with a large Black population. A Black representative has led the district since 1992, and voters there have not elected a woman since 2000.
About 18% of people live below the poverty line. Davis told NOTUS earlier this year that he plans to emphasize housing, health care, job creation and infrastructure needs in his campaign.
Of the 23 counties in the newly drawn district, 15 went for Trump in 2024. But that doesn’t faze Davis.
“People across the country are watching what North Carolina has done, but it’s only for one part of the state, just the east. Leave us alone. We’re resilient. We’ll figure it out. We’re OK electing Donald Trump and Don Davis. We’re OK with that,” he previously told NOTUS.
—
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Assembly.
Don’t miss the stories shaping Washington.
Sign in
Log into your free account with your email. Don’t have one?
Check your email for a one-time code.
We sent a 4-digit code to . Enter the pin to confirm your account.
New code will be available in 1:00
Let’s try this again.
We encountered an error with the passcode sent to . Please reenter your email.