Contentious GOP primary battle emerges in NC congressional toss-up district

Republicans hoping to flip one of the nation’s longest-held Democratic congressional seats are trading a barrage of attacks about their past transgressions and electability — a primary battle that could affect the GOP’s chances in North Carolina’s lone toss-up congressional district.

Political newcomer Laurie Buckhout and repeat candidate Sandy Smith are battling for the GOP nomination in the state’s 1st Congressional District seat, which stretches from the Triangle to most of northeastern North Carolina. The winner is poised to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, who won the seat in 2022 when the district more heavily favored Democrats.

Democrats have held the seat for more than a century and its voters have elected Black representatives for 30 years straight — but that could change this year under election maps approved by the GOP-controlled legislature.

State lawmakers last year redrew the state’s 14 congressional districts, giving their party an advantage in at least 10 and Democrats an advantage in three. The 1st District is considered the state’s only competitive district.

Black and Hispanic voters are challenging the new congressional map in court, alleging that Davis’s district is one of several that are unconstitutionally gerrymandered to dilute the influence of minority voters. The legal challenges aren’t expected to influence the district boundaries for this year’s elections.

Davis beat Smith by 4.7 percentage points — 12,200 votes — in 2022. The district was redrawn to help Republicans close that gap. If this year’s district boundaries were in place for the 2022 U.S. Senate election, 52% of its votes would’ve gone to Republican Ted Budd. For the 2020 presidential election, just over 50% of its votes would’ve gone to President Joe Biden.

With Biden polling in a weaker position this year, Buckhout and Smith both believe they can make history in the district — but that their primary opponent can’t. Their distaste for one another has emerged on the campaign trail, on social media and in interviews with the media.

Buckhout, a 62-year-old from Virginia, is campaigning on her 26 years in the military and seven years as owner and operator of a defense consulting firm. Buckhout told WRAL that her professional experience makes her more qualified than Smith to directly influence national security and the economy.

“You can talk about strengthening the border,” Buckhout said. Or, she said, you can approach it “from a national security viewpoint, like I do, because I've had for decades now in national security.”

She added that she employed as many as 70 people at her consulting firm before selling it in 2019. “I ran a very successful business, not a string of other ones,” Buckhout said, a jab at Smith, who has helped manage a variety of businesses.

Smith, 49, says she’s more in touch with the voters of the district. Born in California, Smith attended East Carolina University and has lived in the area for almost 15 years. Smith also met many voters while running for the seat in 2020 and 2022, winning GOP primaries before losing the general election.

She told WRAL it’s “rich” that Buckhout thinks that she herself is more qualified to represent the district since Buckhout moved to the district only a few years ago.

Smith, who now works as chief financial officer of her husband’s Green Power Construction company, acknowledges that she’s opened and closed some businesses during “different phases in life.” She says Buckhout’s criticism of her career shows she’s unfamiliar with the risks of starting a business that’s not reliant on the government.

The comment “is a perfect example of how she doesn’t relate to the voters here,” Smith said of Buckhout.

Smith predicted that, if Buckhout wins the primary, “people will vote for Don Davis over her. They know him. They don't know her.”

Outside influence

Hanging over the race are allegations that Smith abused her ex-husbands and daughter, who filed for a protective order in 2012 that was later dismissed. Smith denies the claims. She says she’s a victim of domestic violence and that she has a strong relationship with her daughter.

Nonetheless, Democrats used the allegations against her in 2022 and some of Smith’s critics see signs of trepidation from influential Republicans.

“She's had an interesting life,” Buckhout said. “Mine has probably been not as interesting. My domestic life is pretty calm.”

Trump, who endorsed Smith in 2022, hasn’t yet come to bat for her this year — something Smith attributes to Trump being focused on his own campaign. Trump former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also endorsed Smith in 2022, is supporting Buckhout in the primary.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a well funded and influential political action committee, has also spent $178,000 to help Buckhout. CLF touts itself as the only outside group endorsed by each of the top-ranking Republicans in the U.S. House. The Buckhout-Smith race is the only GOP congressional primary in North Carolina where the group is getting involved.

“Buckhout has what it takes to defeat liberal Don Davis in November," Courtney Parella, a CLF spokeswoman, told WRAL in a statement.

The CLF’s decision shows Republican donors want few liabilities as the GOP tries to keep control of the U.S. House of Representative, said Kyle Kondik, a political expert at Sabato’s Crystal Ball. The group, which is part of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, reports on elections and uses statistical analysis to predict races.

“National Republicans believe Buckhout is a superior candidate to Smith, who has a lot of baggage,” Kondik told WRAL in an email.

That said, Smith’s detractors would be wise to take her seriously. Out of 435 congressional districts, Davis’s is one of only 41 that’s considered competitive.

“This district is competitive enough that even Smith could win it,” Kondik said.

Personal attacks

Smith says the super PAC’s support of Buckhout is a testament to her political independence. She says the establishment wants Buckhout because she’ll fall in line when told, especially on issues of foreign policy.

“When you make money off a war, you're going to vote for war, period,” Smith said.

Buckhout also faces attacks for issues in her personal life. Buckhout faced a charge of driving-under-the-influence of alcohol in Georgia in 2017, and video of her interaction with police has circulated on social media — something Smith brought up in a recent interview with WRAL.

“I’ve seen the video,” Smith said. “The officer tells her she can’t be un-arrested.”

Buckhout acknowledged the DUI. She said she regrets the decision and paid a $500 fine. She also voluntarily chose to not argue against the misdemeanor charge of reckless driving, said Jonathan Felts, her campaign advisor.

“Ms. Buckhout has the utmost respect for law enforcement officers and greatly appreciates the professionalism demonstrated by the officers she met that evening in 2017,” Felts said.

Buckout’s campaign also pushed back on Smith’s claim that Buckhout is beholden to the GOP establishment or the military industrial complex.

“The last person who wants war is anyone who has ever been in combat,” Felts said. “Veterans of combat have seen firsthand the horrors of war and would only resort to military action as a last resort. Colonel Buckhout started a business that helped defeat IEDs and save American lives.”

Looking ahead

While the Republican candidates attack each other and compare their conservative bona fides, Davis hopes to appeal to both sides of the aisle.

Republican groups will undoubtedly cast Davis as a rubber stamp for Biden and the Democratic Party in the general election. In an interview with WRAL, Davis said his record shows otherwise.

Davis joined Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in calling on Congress to extend a pandemic-era policy making entry into the U.S. harder for immigrants at the border. He voted with Republicans to protect gas stoves from a federal government ban. For his work overall, Davis has one of the highest scores possible from the Common Ground Committee, a political group that tracks congress members’ work across the aisle.

Davis is also pushing back on the Biden administration’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes. North Carolina is home to at least 6,000 jobs related to producing the product, he says.

“We can’t just say we’re going to rip away jobs … without any replacement,” he said. “I’ve been in a fight for the east, not for any party.”

Davis, 52, was born in Snow Hill and served in the Air Force for eight years before returning to the region to teach classes at East Carolina University. He served as mayor of Snow Hill and as a state senator before earning a Congressional seat in 2022.

Davis declined to comment on the Republican candidates but said he’s learned from his time in Washington that voters need someone who cares about them and has the connections required to address their needs.

He noted that he helped secure $1.4 million for a tourist attraction in Tyrrell County, the least populated county in the state, during one of the most tumultuous congressional terms in recent member — one where the House ousted its speaker, censured three members, expelled its first member in 20 years and impeached a cabinet member for the first time in nearly 150 years.

“More than ever,” Davis told WRAL. “We absolutely have to have someone who is not only dedicated, but understands the complexities and the challenges that are taking place across the world, in the union, across the United States, and here in eastern North Carolina.”