Exclusive: NRCC Chair Hudson vows to unseat Davis

US Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC9, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is determined to flip NC-1 red and retire US Rep. Don Davis, the Democrat who has held the seat since 2023. 

“Laurie Buckhout is a great candidate, and we’re thrilled she ran again,” Hudson told the Carolina Journal. “She ran one of the closest House races in the country last cycle, losing by a point. I think if we hadn’t had a Libertarian in there, she would have won in a very competitive even district.”

Laurie Buckhout won a five-way Republican primary in March and will face off against Davis in the fall. In 2024, Buckhout also won her primary but lost to Davis in the general election. Buckhout is a retired Army colonel and combat commander who served in the Trump administration as acting secretary of defense for cyber policy from March to September of 2025. 

“We’re laser-focused on helping her win,” said Hudson. “It’s always competitive when you’re running against an incumbent, but I’m really excited about this race.” 

Hudson said he likes Davis personally and that he comes across as a “very reasonable person,” but noted that he still often votes with US Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT, in Washington. Hudson stated that Davis has a record for which he will be held accountable.  

“He backed Joe Biden’s spending packages, which led to higher inflation for every family in eastern North Carolina, increasing their cost of living and making things unaffordable,” said Hudson. “Every once in a while, he’ll vote with us on something, but it’s not enough to turn the tide or distract us from the record that he’s built. He’s voted against border security, the child tax credit, no tax on tips, and no tax on overtime. I mean, over and over again, he has sided with the liberals in Washington against families in eastern North Carolina.”

According to Q1 campaign finance reports, Davis well outpaced Buckhout in fundraising, bringing in more than $1 million in the first quarter and $3.3 million so far this cycle. He currently has $2.9 million cash on hand, according to Q1 finance reports from the FEC.

“I’ve never felt that Republicans had to beat the Democrats in fundraising,” said Hudson. “We just have to hang with them. We can’t let them get a huge advantage, you know. Typically we’re outraised head-to-head and committee to committee, but Laurie will raise the money she needs. We know what this campaign is going to cost, and she’s got a plan; she’s well on the way to putting those resources together. Still, our committee, for the first time since I don’t know when, has a fundraising advantage over the Democratic committee, and we had the best first quarter in the history of the NRCC.”

According to Hudson, the NRCC is typically at least $10 million behind the Democrats, but at this point, the committee actually has an $8 million cash-on-hand advantage.

“We’re going to have the resources, and we’re going to be devoting a significant amount of resources to NC-1,” Hudson said.

Hudson told CJ he thought redistricting North Carolina to gain a seat was worth it, even if it contributed to the ongoing redistricting wars, where Democrats are likely to gain four seats from a very gerrymandered map in Virginia. He referenced many states where Trump got over 40% of the vote, yet the Republican Party has zero members of the congressional delegation because of gerrymandering. He said in Illinois, for example, Trump got about 44% of the vote, and yet the GOP has only three out of 17 members of Congress. 

Since North Carolina is among the fastest-growing states in the country and has seen significant population growth over the last decade, Hudson stated that reapportionment makes sense. 

“I think it was worth it,” said Hudson. “It wasn’t my idea; I haven’t talked to any of these governors or legislators, and I haven’t been part of this redistricting. I’ve been an observer just like everybody else, but sure it was worth it.”

Hudson told CJ that he has no concerns that the new districts pulling Republican voters to NC-1 from NC-3 will make NC-3 vulnerable to flipping blue, the “dummymander” concern. 

“It’s a solid Republican district,” said Hudson. “Again, I wasn’t involved in drawing it; no one asked my opinion, but I think the legislature did a good job, and NC-3 will be safe.”

“Exclusive: NRCC Chair Hudson vows to unseat Davis” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.