Four years ago, Nida Allam came up short in her quest for an open seat in the heart of North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
Now she’s back for a rematch with Rep. Valerie P. Foushee — and the blue-on-blue battle is a sign of just how much Democratic politics have shifted since 2022.
Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County commissioner who has the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, is one of dozens of challengers taking on incumbents in heavily Democratic districts this year.
For the progressive movement, Tuesday’s primary in North Carolina’s 4th District marks another early test of the midterm election cycle. It comes fresh off this month’s Democratic primary victory by grassroots organizer Analilia Mejia to fill a House vacancy in New Jersey.
The Democratic divide is shaped by a number of factors, including age and ideology — as well as dueling strategies about how aggressively the party ought to push back against President Donald Trump.
“People are being killed in broad daylight using our taxpayer dollars,’’ Allam said in an interview, referring to the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the hands of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. “Families are losing their jobs because Elon Musk was handed the reins of our federal government and allowed to just cut whatever he wanted … And all we’ve gotten is strongly worded letters and tweets. That’s not enough. We deserve better.”
Foushee, who is 69 and seeking a third term, rejects Allam’s line of attack, focusing instead on her record.
“Maybe I fight a little more quiet than some people, but for me it’s not about having my image projected, it’s about delivering results,’’ she told Spectrum News. “And so where you may not see me stepping up on the steps with a megaphone or a microphone, know that sometimes it works better behind the scenes.”
Foushee has long been a reliable Democratic vote in Congress, but she is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has highlighted her support of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
“She’s trying to position herself in a way that doesn’t leave that much room for Nida to outflank her,’’ said Jonathan Weiler, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Allam is running against [a]…mainstream Black liberal, in a Black and liberal district, so I think it’s a little bit of an uphill battle for her.”
U.S. support for Israel in the aftermath of the war in Gaza has emerged as a key divide.
Foushee had the backing of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in her 2022 run, but announced in August she would no longer accept money from the group. Still in the waning days of the campaign, an outside group that Allam’s supporters say is tied to AIPAC spent $600,000 on ads supporting Foushee.
Foushee’s campaign has also received a boost from the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence industries, including about $1.6 million in outside spending by a super PAC associated with the AI company Anthropic. Foushee is co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI.
“There’s no reason, in our safest blue seats, that we should have Democratic leaders that are cashing checks from the same right-wing corporate PACs and special interest groups that put Trump and his MAGA Republican friends into office,’’ Allam said. “If we … aren’t willing to put up that fight, then why hold the seat?”
While Allam has the support of Sanders and the Justice Democrats, Foushee is backed by most of the Democratic establishment in both Washington and North Carolina.
“Since she and I worked together in the state Senate, I’ve seen firsthand how Valerie leads with integrity, determination and a clear focus on serving others,’’ Gov. Josh Stein said in a video message. “In Washington, she will never stop fighting on the issues that matter most to us.”
The incumbent says she’s been the target of negative ads that distort her record by implying she’s in the pocket of technology companies. “So why am I investigating Big Tech for the historic surge of layoffs over the last year?” she said in a video. “My biggest donors are unions, the hardworking people of North Carolina.”
Foushee notched a 9-point win over Allam in 2022, and Weiler, the political scientist, predicted the outcome will be similar this time.
But a progressive base motivated by anti-Trump activism could propel Allam to victory — and provide a path for other anti-establishment Democrats.
“Within the Democratic Party, this is where a lot of the fight is,’’ Weiler said. “Val hasn’t been in Congress all that long, but she’s been in politics for a long time. And there’s a question of [is she] going to fight in the way we need to fight in this era?”
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