Speaker Johnson says Buckhout will flip NC-1 in ‘midterm unlike any other’
On Aug. 4, just 91 days out from the midterm elections, Republican Speaker of the US House Mike Johnson of Louisiana expressed his confidence in Col. Laurie Buckhoout, the Republican nominee running to unseat Democrat incumbent Don Davis of North Carolina’s First Congressional District. During a campaign stop in Greenville, where they also met with farmers and business leaders from the eastern part of the state, Johnson called the upcoming election a “midterm unlike any other.”
“She is one of our star recruits to run for Congress this fall, and she is going to flip a blue seat to red, North Carolina’s first Congressional District, an essential part of the strategy to ensure the Republicans maintain the majority in Congress,” Johnson told the press.
The House race in North Carolina’s First District is one of the top three most-watched races in America, according to Johnson. Americans know that there are about 18 to 20 seats that “are going to decide the fate of the majority in the House and thus the future of the Republic,” and the First District of North Carolina is one of them, said Johnson.
Buckhout is a retired Army colonel, combat commander, and business owner, and has also served in the Trump administration as acting secretary of defense for cyber policy from March to September of 2025.
“This district has been suffering for quite some time,” said Buckhout at the event. “My opponent actually called it the forgotten district, forgetting that he has already been in for two terms. So I think he’s one of those who is doing the forgetting. I don’t believe in that; I see so much good that needs to happen in this district. We need to bring jobs, we need to lift the district up economically, we need to support our farmers with some serious legislation that will enable family farms to continue to grow and will enable them to pass it on to the children, and we need to build the jobs that are going to have children want to come back to eastern North Carolina and stay here and grow. As a parent myself, I know that’s what I want my kids to want to come back to a place that’s going to support them, where they have a job, where they have good schools, where they have some place where they can raise their families to be the great Americans that continue the legacy of eastern North Carolina.”
Buckhout won her five-way Republican primary in March with 39.52% of the vote and will face Davis, in a rematch of 2024. Davis won that race with 49.5% of the vote compared to Buckhout’s 47.8%, a margin of just over 6,000 votes.
According to Johnson, Davis has called socialism a step towards communism, which he referred to as utopia, or the perfect society.
“It is no exaggeration to say that in this midterm election on the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in the history of the world, we are in an open contest about whether or not we’re going to maintain the incredible constitutional republic that’s made us the greatest nation in the history of the world,” said Johnson. “Are we going to tear that foundation down and go down this dark, dangerous, deadly road to communism? People don’t understand that Marxist philosophy is where communism comes from.”
Davis, in comments to WITN, rejected the accusation that he favored Marxism or socialism.
“I believe in capitalism, I love this country, and I believe we make the most progress by working together,” Davis said. “My commitment has been to work with Speaker Johnson to strengthen our military by passing the National Defense Authorization Act, advance the Farm Bill, and prevent government shutdowns because that’s the kind of commonsense leadership the people of eastern North Carolina deserve.”
Davis also sought to draw attention back to local issues and bipartisan solutions in Congress.
“Speaker Johnson is always welcome in eastern NC,” Davis said. “I hope his visit helps build federal support for funding at ECU Health Beaufort Hospital and Washington Regional Medical Center, fund NC Highway 12, provide critical assistance for our tobacco farmers, advance the Major Richard Star Act for our combat-injured veterans, and strengthen our efforts to lower costs for hardworking families across eastern NC.”
Both candidates raised about $1.05 million in Q2, and Buckhout has about $1.8 million in cash on hand, according to campaign finance reports.
Speaker Johson expressed complete confidence that Buckhout will unseat Davis in November.
“I believe we’re going to defy history and win the majority now, it’s only happened twice in 90 years,” said Johnson at the event. “I’m convinced, as most people are, that this is a midterm unlike any other, and I think we have so many factors in our favor that are going to ensure that Republicans hold and grow our majority. We have a great record to run on; we’ve done incredible things for the people in North Carolina. Just for one example, in the First District of North Carolina, the average North Carolinian has $3,300 more in their pocket than they would have had to send to Washington for taxes because we passed the Big Beautiful Bill and the Working Families Tax Cut; we eliminated tax on tips and overtime, and Social Security. We provided for pro-growth policies for business creators, small business owners to expand their operations and immediately write off the capital expenditures like research and development and new facilities. That’s why you’re seeing those positive movements in the economy.”
“Speaker Johnson says Buckhout will flip NC-1 in ‘midterm unlike any other’” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.
