(The Center Square) – Two-term U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee won North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District Democratic primary on Tuesday by less than 1% over Nida Allam, giving chance for a runoff in two months.
Allam, defeated by Foushee four years ago and vice chairwoman for the Durham County commissioners, trailed 49.2%-48.2% with all 142 precincts unofficially recorded. Durham’s Mary Patterson (2.6%) was third.
While all precincts are in, still to be counted are mailed ballots needing cures, provisional ballots, and overseas and military ballots sent by snail mail. Runoffs are in play for winning candidates with less than 30% of the vote, and requests from those finishing runner-up by less than 1% of the total votes.
Canvassing is Friday of next week.
On Nov. 3, the official winner takes on Republican Max Ganorkar of Pittsboro and Libertarian Guy Meilleur of Durham. Democrats are the prevailing party in the district. Foushee won her two terms snagging 66.9% of the vote in 2022 and 71.9% in 2024.
Foushee’s campaign priorities were democracy; immigration policy; health care; reproductive freedom; affordability for consumer staples; a progressive tax system; education; the environment; retirement security; and racial justice.
Foushee has advocated “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. If successful in November, she could potentially be the fifth in the U.S. House of the same faith joining Reps. Andre Carson, D-Ind., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlib, D-Mich., and Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., if they are successful in reelection bids.
The Senate does not have a member of Muslim faith.
Allam campaigned on democracy, living wage, health care, education and the environment. She also stumped 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.
