(The Center Square) – Democracy, living wage, health care, education and the environment are the leading shared campaign platforms of candidates in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District’s Democratic primary.
Two-term incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee of Hillsborough is challenged by Nida Allam and Mary Patterson, both of Durham. It is one of three districts expected to be won by Democrats in November.
Absentee voting started with mailed ballots on Jan. 12, while early in-person voting starts Thursday, and March 3 is the primary Election Day.
“Together, we can do more than just dream about a better tomorrow: we can build it together,” Allam says on her campaign website.
In addition to the five issues above, she is also stumping on environmental justice; jobs and the economy; reproductive rights; the rights of those saying they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and other identities such as intersex, asexual and pansexual; housing; foreign policy; and immigration.
Transgender – not added to Merriam Webster until 2016 – is a broad term with a vague definition by itself. A person using this would claim a gender identity other than male or female as they were born, as defined by state law and federal executive branch declaration.
“While serving on the Durham County Board of Commissioners, I raised the minimum wage for all county employees to $19 an hour,” Allam says. “In Congress, I will fight for that wage on a federal level, consistent with the current cost of living in NC-04, for all workers, including tipped workers, because no one should have to work multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their head and provide for their family.”
Foushee’s campaign priorities are democracy; immigration policy; health care; reproductive freedom; affordability for consumer staples; a progressive tax system; education; the environment; retirement security; and racial justice.
Foushee advocates “tackling systemic racism” by ending cash bail; abolishing private prisons; and decriminalizing marijuana. She calls second-term Republican President Donald Trump “the biggest threat to democracy our nation has faced” and has joined nine amicus briefs challenging him through litigation.
Allam, daughter of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, bills herself as the first Muslim woman to hold public office in the state through her 2020 victory as a county commissioner. She lost the 2022 primary to Foushee by 8,075 votes out of 88,562 cast in the 162 precincts.
Foushee gained experience in the state House of Representatives and the state Senate before reaching the Beltway in 2022 when an easy win (66.9%-33.1%) over Republican Courtney Geels. She had no primary opposition two years ago and won reelection (71.9% of the vote) over Republican Eric Blankenburg (26.1%) and Libertarian Guy Meilleur (2%).
In campaign filing with the Federal Elections Commission at the Jan. 31 deadline for calendar year 2025, Foushee had more than $193,000 cash on hand. Allam had nearly $306,000 and there was no report for Patterson.
The Democratic primary winner is forecast to easily carry the nod in November. That victor will face Pittsboro Republican Max Ganorkar or Meilleur, neither of which faces a primary.
