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 \u2014 and her plans for winning back the 60,000 local voters who wanted to see her booted from office.<\/p>\n
Foushee narrowly defeated challenger Nida Allam<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s primary, winning with 49% of the vote to Allam\u2019s 48%. A third candidate, Mary Patterson, received the rest.<\/p>\n Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, for this year\u2019s race. She challenged Foushee, 69, as not progressive enough in her voting stances, and not aggressively outspoken enough on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n Unofficial results<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Foushee still has to win November\u2019s election. She faces Republican Mahesh \u201cMax\u201d Ganorkar and Libertarian Guy Meilleur. But that race is expected to be far less competitive than the primary was in Foushee\u2019s deeply liberal district that covers Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex and other Triangle-area towns. Foushee won 72% of the vote in 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Foushee said she\u2019s hoping enough other Democrats also win in November to help flip control of Congress away from GOP control. If that happens, she said, she\u2019s got a long list of priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ll be able to make sure that we’re controlling the appropriations process such that we’re steering funding where it belongs,\u201d Foushee said. \u201cWe’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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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: \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n They could pick from any number of reasons to impeach him, she added. She\u2019s particularly incensed by Trump\u2019s decision to bomb Iran, drawing the U.S. into another Middle Eastern conflict, without congressional approval.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re at war, and we already have casualties,\u201d Foushee said. \u201cWe’ve already lost six service members, and Congress didn’t have a say in that.\u201d<\/p>\n A White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, brushed off the threat of a third impeachment. \u201cPresident Trump is too focused on protecting Americans, as he was elected to do, to care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Minutes after Foushee spoke with WRAL, she voted on the House floor for a war powers resolution<\/a> to require Trump to get congressional approval for any further strikes. That effort was defeated<\/a> by the chamber’s Republican majority.<\/p>\n Foushee\u2019s 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\u2019t doing enough in Washington to push for what local Democrats want.<\/p>\n