CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. — Incumbent Democratic Congressman Don Davis hopes to hold onto his seat in the newly redrawn North Carolina District One. Political experts dub the district a toss-up following a redistricting plan that was approved by the GOP-controlled state legislature.
Largely rural and agricultural, NC-1 stretches from Currituck County all the way down to Lenoir County.
Davis, an Air Force veteran, lists rebuilding a rural economy and accessibility to healthcare among his priorities. He was ranked by Georgetown University as the fifth most bipartisan member of Congress, a title Meredith College political science professor Dr. David McLennan thinks will work in his favor.
"He's running in a district that is fairly moderate. It doesn't have any big cities," said McLennan.
He's been criticized by members of his own party for some of his moderate moves. He voted for a resolution condemning Vice President Kamala Harris for her role in the Biden administration’s border policy.
Repeated attempts by 13News Now to interview Davis went unanswered at the time of this article's publishing.
Meanwhile, political newcomer, Army veteran, and former business owner Republican Laurie Buckhout is banking on an upset. She's leaning on concerns about the economy and border security to carry her over the finish line.
Conversations with the farming community, she said, reveal a desperate need for economic help.
"The more energy it costs to produce something, to transport something, to store something... to provide heat and air conditioning for warehouses where you store things. All that adds up and it's killing businesses [according to] every farmer I talk to," Buckhout said.
Polls in North Carolina show immigration as a top concern for voters. McLennan believes that favors Buckhout. Buckhout sides with Donald Trump on the bipartisan border bill that he convinced congressional allies to sink. Buckhout, instead supports House Resolution 2 which passed the House in 2023 with no Democratic votes.
"That one was more stringent on closing the border," Buckhout said.
Both candidates are veterans and both candidates have veterans' issues as prominent parts of their platforms. Davis is calling for improving veterans' education and career training. Buckhout wants to direct more money to help veterans and their families and less toward the bureaucratic infrastructure of the Veterans Administration.
"The funding pyramid is inverted, if you will. We need to be taking care more of veterans and families rather than the whole bureaucracy that goes behind running the Veterans Administration, " said Buckhout.
But as a veteran, Buckhout calls revelations about Trump's prior comments on veterans to be rumors and gossip. In a recent New York Times article, Trump's former chief of staff, four-star General John Kelly reiterated that Trump called the war dead "suckers and losers."
"I've never seen this 'sucker and loser' thing verified. It's gossip," said Buckhout.
She discounts Trump's criticism of former Republican presidential nominee John McCain for being taken as a prisoner of war during Vietnam as statements made "a long time ago." And when Trump said the military could handle the American citizens whom he considers the "enemy from within," Buckhout calls it politics that's filled with hyperbole and gossip and personalities.
The race is considered one of the top 10 to watch in the country.
"I think she's got some advantages on the issues, he's got some advantages because of his name recognition and incumbency status," said McLennan.
If Buckhout does well, McLennan said Trump will do well in the Tar Heel state. If Davis does well, Harris will do well.
13News Now also reached out to the Libertarian candidate running in District One, Tom Bailey, but did not hear back.