Singer, state senator, activist highlight Congressional race in Durham, Chapel Hill

Durham and Chapel Hill’s open congressional seat will likely be won with money, moxie or fame.

Longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. David Price is retiring at the end of his term after serving parts of the Triangle for more than 30 years. The leading contenders to replace Price—each from diverse personal and professional backgrounds—are relying on different campaign strategies.

North Carolina’s new 4th Congressional District, which covers Orange, Durham, Person, Granville and Alamance counties, leans heavily democratic. That puts the focus on the May 17 Democratic primary.

“We have known for a long time that whenever Congressman Price chooses to retire, that that would be a pretty dramatic change,” said Asher Hildebrand, a political science expert at Duke University who previously served as Price’s chief of staff.

“And if you just look at the field of candidates running to replace him and especially the front runners, you see that change,” he said. “Any one of them would bring a different perspective, different identity than Congressman Price has had.”

Hildebrand said he can envision scenarios where any of the top candidates win: Foushee with her money and establishment connections, Allam with her energy and organizing ability, or Aiken benefitting from his celebrity.

Democratic insiders think Foushee might have an advantage. She was an administrator in the Chapel Hill Police Department before serving on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, becoming the first Black woman elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners and then climbing the ranks in the state legislature. Aiken and Allam likely have more name recognition in Durham, the district’s largest city.

Durham also has a large Black community, and Foushee has the support of Democratic U.S. Reps. Alma Adams and G.K. Butterfield, as well as Congressional Black Caucus’ political committee and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.

Those endorsements, combined with the help from outside groups, “will be the difference in the race and she'll win Durham really big,” said Morgan Jackson, a campaign strategist known for his work with Gov. Roy Cooper. Jackson supports Foushee in the race.

Durham City Councilwoman Jillian Johnson said she expects the Durham Committee’s endorsement of Foushee to help the candidate. However, she rejected the idea that it and other endorsements will make the race a slam dunk for her.

“There are also lots of Black folks in Durham who are excited about a progressive woman of color candidate who can do the job a little bit differently from your standard sort of, you know, liberal or or moderate Democrat,” said Johnson, who supports Allam. She endorsed Allam because she’s the most progressive top candidate and is capable of mobilizing a diverse range of voters.

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Miles Coleman, a political analyst for Sabato's Crystal Ball, offered examples of recent Democratic primaries that might offer hope to lesser-funded candidates. For instance, Rep. Jamie Raskin in 2016 won the Democratic primary in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, near the District of Columbia, despite having to run against a self-funded candidate in Dave Trone and a candidate with some establishment support and fame in journalist Kathleen Matthews.

Raskin was outspent by his opponents, but he benefited because he ran on a progressive platform near a major university, and universities tend to vote for more liberal candidates, Coleman said.

“With several universities, NC-4 is another district where a younger, college-educated bloc could be influential in a Democratic primary,” he said.

The outside spending, while beneficial to Foushee, has also proven controversial. Some see the influx of cash as a coordinated effort to stifle Allam.

Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who endorsed Allam, called out AIPAC for spending $10 million in races across the country where progressive women are candidates. “Why are they so afraid of strong, progressive women of color fighting for the working class?” Sanders tweeted.

A spokesman for the Protect Our Future PAC said the group supports Foushee because she prioritizes pandemic preparedness and environmental justice.

Jackson believes the outside spending in Foushee is a sign establishment types “don't want a squad member from North Carolina,” Jackson said, referring to a group of progressive congresswomen that includes Democratic U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

Aiken told WRAL that he’s not as concerned with outside spending as he is with offensive push-poll texts he’s heard about from area voters. “I have seen, unfortunately, some pretty nasty and awful Islamophobic push-poll stuff,” Aiken said. “I find that incredibly disturbing and upsetting.”

Ryan Jenkins, leader of the local party’s progressive caucus, provided WRAL with a screenshot of a poll question he received, which says:

“Allam said her role model and mentor is a woman who showed support for a terrorist who was convicted of bombing a supermarket, killing two college students.” Jenkins said the text didn’t reveal who paid for the poll, but he believes the text and the outside spending are a sign that Foushee can’t win on her own.

“It's easy to be good and have a sterling reputation when you're in a safe district and there's no challenge to you,” Jenkins said. “When you get into a real fight and you start losing, that sort of desperation reveals who you are as a human being … I think she got scared and desperate. And then she sold out hard.”

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Foushee told WRAL that voters don’t seem to care about the methods candidates use to get their message out.

“These are not the conversations that I've been having with constituents,” Foushee said. “People want to talk about jobs. They want to talk about health care. They want to talk about the economy. They want to talk about criminal justice. They want to talk about the environment.”

Foushee says she didn’t consider running for Congress until Price announced his retirement, and supporters called her to encourage her.

“There are certain folks that are good to work with on the other side of the aisle and that are amenable to working on things together. And some of them aren't,” Britt said. “And Sen. Foushee is one of those folks that's just good to work with and reasonable and doesn't mind working in compromising on good legislation.”

Aiken has never won elected office but is the only candidate who has won a congressional primary. In 2014, he scored a narrow victory against businessman Keith Crisco before going on to lose to U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers in the general election.

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Now Aiken, who’s supported by a large LGBTQ-rights group called Equality PAC, says he launched his campaign in an attempt to o counter “hateful” rhetoric with an equally loud but more welcoming tone. Aiken says his fame helped him bring resources to groups that serve children with special needs. He now wants to use it to secure funding for things like affordable housing, transportation and education. He cited his relationship with conservative pundit Meghan McCain as an example of how he can build bridges to potentially bring more resources back to the district.

“I don't dislike [Republicans]. I disagree with them,” Aiken said, adding that he and McCain “don't agree on much. But we understand that in order to get anything done, you have to find opportunities to look at ways that you can work together.”

Allam, asked about working across the aisle, said she believes in the importance of keeping the needs of “working families” front and center: “Who needs to have a representative the most in this district that hasn't had a voice?” she said. When you keep that mentality, relationships form because “Republican [and] Democratic legislators alike have constituents that are in need of their service and support.”

Allam believes she understands the need for change better than other candidates.

“We need a green New Deal to save our planet and create millions of jobs and transition us away from the fossil fuel industry,” she said. “I'm a candidate that believes we need Medicare for All. I'm one of over 250,000 North Carolinians that lost my access to health care when I was laid off at the beginning of the pandemic.”