Ninth District Congressman Robert Pittenger squeaked by Rev. Mark Harris by 134 votes in the Republican primary two years ago, and the two men are battling again – along with a third candidate – for the party's nomination in next Tuesday's primary.

The race this year appears to be equally close, as both Pittenger and Harris attended Thursday night's annual fish fry on the shore of White Lake, east of Elizabethtown, in an effort to get every last vote.

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Fewer than 800 people in Bladen County voted in the GOP congressional primary in 2016, and the county is as far east as you can go in the 9th District, which stretches along the South Carolina to Charlotte and takes in southern portions of Cumberland County.

The district, which used to be concentrated around Charlotte, went from being among the state's wealthiest to being one of its most economically distressed when state lawmakers redrew congressional district lines in 2016 to eliminate two racially gerrymandered districts.

Pittenger, a three-term incumbent from Charlotte, said he has fought for his new constituents, many of whom are still trying to recover from Hurricane Matthew's floodwaters.

"I worked a lot out here on the hurricane relief efforts, brought a lot of money back here to help these folks," he said. "We lost 98,000 homes in North Carolina, so I supported, made sure we had over $1 billion get back to this state."

The hurricane is the main reason Fayetteville businessman Clarence Goins is even in the 9th District race – his first run for political office. The small business he owns with his wife downtown was flooded by the October 2016 storm, and he said recovery money appeared to be available to everyone except small-business owners.

Goins' main concerns are reining in federal spending, helping small businesses and curbing illegal immigration.

"One thing definitely that would be a priority would be to reduce spending. Any bill that comes across the desk would be definitely have to have some type of reduction," he said. "Any time when we overspend our budget, we never can get ahead as a family. If you take that as a country, we are over $21 trillion in debt."

Goins and Harris have criticized Pittenger for voting for the $1.3 trillion spending package Congress passed in March, but Pittenger said much of that money will go toward the military, including Fort Bragg.

"If we can't secure the country, then what else matters?" he asked. "[Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis said it was absolutely required. So did the president. So, you have to go with your priorities."

While Pittenger touts his support for President Donald Trump, he's also close to such establishment Republicans as Karl Rove, the political strategist for former President George W. Bush. That has led Harris to accuse Pittenger of being part of the swamp in Washington, D.C., that Trump promised to drain.

"I have a very grave concern about our national debt. It's gone from $16 trillion when Mr. Pittenger went into office to now over $21 trillion, and he's had the pleasure of being in the majority party the whole time he's been in office," he said.

Both men try to portray themselves as more supportive of Trump's agenda than the other, which Goins sees as a problem.

"I don't want to be known as Donald Trump's wingman in Congress," he said. "Congress is the first thing mentioned in the Constitution, and there's a reason for that – because we make law. We don't push the executive branch's agenda. We need to push our agenda, which is the constituents' agenda."

Harris, a Baptist minister from Charlotte who also ran for U.S. Senate in 2014, said he's the best fit for the voters of the new 9th District because of his years of pastoral work.

"Walking through life with people enables you to be able to know where they’re coming from, be able to represent their views, represent their concerns," he said. "I believe that’s what our government’s all about."

Two Democrats are also facing off for their party's nomination Tuesday for the 9th District seat. First-time candidate Dan McCready is challenging Christian Cano, who lost to Pittenger in 2016.

Republicans have held the district since 1963, and Trump easily won the reconfigured district two years ago. Still, several Democratic groups and allies are pouring money into the race in hopes of turning the district blue in November.