ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — North Carolina Congressman Don Davis is making two claims in his newest campaign ad that's running on TV right now.
But are those claims true? Let’s Verify.
In the ad, the Democratic freshman states that in Congress he is "saving Seymour Johnson Air Force Base from job cuts and delivering essential aircraft for Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City."
Let’s start with that first claim.
Did Congressman Don Davis "save Seymour Johnson Air Force Base from job cuts?"
Davis said he stepped up when the U.S. Air Force tried to eliminate one of the four squadrons at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Wayne County, NC.
He also pressed the Secretary of the Air Force about those plans during a hearing on Capitol Hill this past spring.
"A loss of 520 jobs at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base would have a tremendous impact on our community in Eastern North Carolina," he said in the hearing.
Davis then wrote a provision in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2025 that would keep the squadron and those hundreds of jobs. The House went on to pass that bill.
So we can Verify: Yes, Congressman Davis helped save Seymour Johnson Air Force Base from job cuts.
Is Davis "delivering essential aircraft for Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City?"
We had a harder time finding evidence for this second claim.
In July, the Congressman sent out a news release announcing a new contract award to benefit U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City. Indeed, the Department of Defense awarded Lockheed Martin millions of dollars for maintenance on a number of bases, including this one.
But I called the Coast Guard and asked: Is Air Station Elizabeth City actually getting new aircraft?
And the answer is no.
They say that new funding is for maintenance of its current fleet, and is not for any new aircraft.
So we can Verify: No, Congressman Davis is not delivering essential aircraft for Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
We reached out to a Davis campaign spokesperson to ask about that one misleading claim, but we have not heard back.
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