Fresh off her victory in a hard-fought Democratic Party primary, U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee spoke with WRAL to outline her priorities in office — and her plans for winning back the 60,000 local voters who wanted to see her booted from office.
Foushee narrowly defeated challenger Nida Allam in Tuesday’s primary, winning with 49% of the vote to Allam’s 48%. A third candidate, Mary Patterson, received the rest.
Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, for this year’s race. She challenged Foushee, 69, as not progressive enough in her voting stances, and not aggressively outspoken enough on Capitol Hill.
Unofficial results show 60,335 people in this Triangle-area district wanted Allam to replace Foushee as that more progressive, aggressive and outspoken option. But there were 61,537 people who voted to send Foushee back to Washington for a third term.
Foushee still has to win November’s election. She faces Republican Mahesh “Max” Ganorkar and Libertarian Guy Meilleur. But that race is expected to be far less competitive than the primary was in Foushee’s deeply liberal district that covers Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex and other Triangle-area towns. Foushee won 72% of the vote in 2024.
Foushee said she’s hoping enough other Democrats also win in November to help flip control of Congress away from GOP control. If that happens, she said, she’s got a long list of priorities.
“We’ll be able to make sure that we’re controlling the appropriations process such that we’re steering funding where it belongs,” Foushee said. “We’ll be able to ensure that we do have Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and that Medicaid is not being ripped apart. That we are providing nutrition. That we will make sure that the Department of Education is doing its work to make sure that we’re protecting our most vulnerable students.”
Another top priority? Impeaching President Donald Trump for the third time. Asked if she thought Democrats will do that if they regain power, Foushee responded: “Absolutely.”
They could pick from any number of reasons to impeach him, she added. She’s particularly incensed by Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, drawing the U.S. into another Middle Eastern conflict, without congressional approval.
“We’re at war, and we already have casualties,” Foushee said. “We’ve already lost six service members, and Congress didn’t have a say in that.”
A White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, brushed off the threat of a third impeachment. “President Trump is too focused on protecting Americans, as he was elected to do, to care,” she said.
Minutes after Foushee spoke with WRAL, she voted on the House floor for a war powers resolution to require Trump to get congressional approval for any further strikes. That effort was defeated by the chamber’s Republican majority.
Foushee’s victory this week came after much of the Democratic Party establishment stepped in to endorse her, including Gov. Josh Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper. Allam hit Foushee hard with accusations that she was beholden to corporate interests and wasn’t doing enough in Washington to push for what local Democrats want.
Allam continued making those accusations Wednesday in a statement conceding defeat, saying Foushee only won because of a last-minute blitz of ad spending by the artificial intelligence industry and taking credit for making Foushee change some of her stances.
“In the days ahead, the incumbent has a responsibility to half this district to earn their support,” Allam wrote. “It should not take being challenged in a primary to take bold stances that voters overwhelmingly support, but I am proud that our movement pushed our incumbent to better reflect our deeply held values and convictions.”
Foushee said she believes the election results show her record speaks for itself.
“Getting out my message about my body of work over the last three years — I think learning how effective that I have been in Congress probably swayed some people who did not know that I am working hard every day in Congress,” Foushee said. “And so I’m happy about that. I’m happy to have been able to effectively communicate that message.”