Candidates in toughest congressional fight in NC conveying similar messages ahead of 2024 election

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Once again, North Carolina has one of the most competitive congressional races in the country. This time it’s District 1, which consists of a whopping 21 counties. Much of it’s rural, poorer than other parts of the state and is where agriculture remains an economic driver.

In the last three-and-a-half weeks, GOP congressional nominee Laurie Buckhout says she’s traveled 6,000 miles, which may not be a surprise given the vast scope of the district. Buckhout said she is hearing similar stories over and over again.

“The economy is rough, the border is open, fentanyl is coming through, gas prices have soared and are still high,” she said.

In the Rocky Mount Republican headquarters, Buckhout told CBS 17 that there is a reason she did not travel to Milwaukee for her party’s national convention.

“I don’t need to be there; I need to be here. Talking to farmers, talking to stay-at-home moms, talking to dads, talking to working families, that’s what I’m doing. We were out walking the peanut plant and looking at processing so we’re putting in a lot of miles talking to folks in the district, so this is where I need to be.”

Buckhout’s competitor, Democratic incumbent Don Davis, is also putting in the miles hearing similar concerns from his constituents while selling the case that a Democratic-controlled House is a better answer.

“We’re doing everything to be responsive so that young people can come in to agriculture and they want to come into agriculture because they know that they can make it,” Davis said at a recent event in Edgecombe County.

Rep. Davis spoke about the impact the drought is having on farmers all while the federal farm bill remains stalled.

“This really highlights the significance of the farm bill and getting a good farm bill out of congress, and we need a good bi-partisan farm bill as it historically has been,” he said.

Buckhout and Davis are both military veterans. Seymour Johnson Air Force base is part of their district.

“We need to be funding recruiting, we need to be funding personnel to get our personnel strengths back up, we definitely need to be taking care of our Air Force base, we have to be taking care of our Coast Guard folks in Elizabeth City, we have to be watching out for Chinese owned land encroaching on those bases, that’s a bigger issue of just funding that’s an issue of national security,” said Buckhout.

“We’ve got to take care of farmers, I believe in eastern North Carolina we’ve got to take care of our military, our veterans, I believe in North Carolina. We have to take of it because we so many elderly, we have to take care of those as they age and yes we have so much infrastructure, broadband issues, we have to fight for the east,” said Davis.

Voters will now be looking for just what that fight looks like in the coming months and how each candidate’s solutions differ.

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