(The Center Square) – A new ranking of members of Congress and governors based on their willingness to work across the aisle has put North Carolina Democratic Rep. Don Davis among the top 3% of federal elected officials for his bipartisanship.
The Common Ground Scorecard from the Common Ground Committee, a nonpartisan nonprofit, gave Davis a score of 85 out of 100 and the designation of Common Ground Champion using a scoring system that measures official performance, personal actions, communications and commitments.
“We must allow respect and shared values to guide us,” Davis said. “I strive to be empathetic and work to understand our differences, embrace our commonalities, and cooperate in good faith to tackle the most pressing challenging issues facing eastern North Carolinians. We owe it to the American people to work through our differences in order to achieve practical solutions and demonstrate the best of our government.”
Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat representing the 14th congressional district, received the next highest score of 75. The third-highest score was 35.
Davis, from Snow Hill, represents the eastern and northeastern counties of Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, part of Pitt, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington and Wilson.
Common Ground, which partners with groups including the Civic Health Project, AllSides, the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution and ActiVote, awarded Davis maximum points for personal actions, communications and commitments, and 15 out of a possible 30 for official performance, which is estimated based on a predictive statistical model.
Davis, an Air Force veteran who represented the 5th district in the North Carolina Senate from 2013 to 2023, defeated Republican Sandy Smith in November to succeed retiring Democrat G.K. Butterfield in the state’s 1st Congressional District.
He’s among a small number of Democrats who opposed the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” environmental regulations over the impact on North Carolina farmers. The member of the Problem Solvers Caucus has also sponsored dozens of bipartisan bills to fulfill his campaign promise to seek compromise in Washington.
“American voters want their elected leaders to work together and do the hard work it will take to solve America’s most difficult challenges,” Common Ground CEO Bruce Bond said. “Congressman Don Davis understands that you can disagree without anger or rancor over a given issue, and I hope that more members of Congress follow his lead.”
Davis’ Common Ground score puts him far above others in the North Carolina congressional delegation, which produced a mean score of 27.3. After Davis and Jackson, the next highest scores were 35s for Republican Reps. Virginia Foxx and Richard Hudson, a 31 for Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross, 25 for Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, 22 for Democratic Rep. Alma Adams, and 21 for Republican Rep. Greg Murphy.
Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel received a 17, as did Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, while Democratic Reps. Valerie Foushee and Republican Rep. David Rouzer received 7s, Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning received a 5, and Republican Rep. Dan Bishop was scored at 0.
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis scored a 46, and Republican Sen. Ted Budd received a 15.
Common Ground scored Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper at 47. The overall average score for the Common Ground Scorecard is 28.
