ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – As Laurie Buckhout made her way around Nash County GOP headquarters in Rocky Mount, she seemed to be in high spirits. The Republican congressional candidate bounced around the crowded room, hugging and laughing with volunteers set to canvass local neighborhoods that afternoon.
But a scandal emerging in North Carolina politics was getting harder to ignore. The day before Buckhout's Nash County visit, CNN released a bombshell report detailing alleged racist and sexual comments made by Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — the GOP nominee for governor — on an online pornography forum more than a decade ago.
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Addressing the volunteers, Buckhout spoke generally about the importance of the race. Then she paused and acknowledged “the elephant in the room."
“My fight is right here, and when you fight, the most important part is not to get distracted by somebody over there rattling sabers," she said. “It's to keep moving forward and fighting for this district.”
There's a delicate balancing act unfolding in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District — a battleground district in a battleground state, and one of the few toss-up congressional races across the Southeast.
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis and Buckhout are campaigning fiercely for the state's northeastern district, but the outcome may not be entirely up to them. Candidates farther up the ballot — Vice President Kamala Harris for Davis and Robinson for Buckhout — might impact voters' choices.
The freshman representative's seat is one of the most vulnerable in the country, political analysts say. A loss for Davis could give Republicans a pathway to control the U.S. House.
Democratic groups from all over the country have heavily outspent Republicans on ads in the 1st District contest — $9.5 million to $3.7 million as of Friday, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertisement spending. As for the candidates themselves, Buckhout’s campaign has spent slightly more than Davis’.
Things could change by Election Day. Republicans, boosted by a big infusion of cash from their Congressional Leadership Fund and a new ad buy announced Friday by the National Republican Congressional Committee, have $9.1 million worth of spots reserved between now and Nov. 5, compared with $8.6 million for Democrats.
The district terrain is more challenging for Davis than when he won in 2022. It became redder after the latest GOP-led redistricting added conservative-leaning Lenoir, Wayne, Currituck and Camden counties and cut out Democratic-leaning Pitt County.
He also faces a “much stronger opponent” in Buckhout than Sandy Smith, whose campaign two years ago was saddled with various scandals, said Peter Francia, political science professor at East Carolina University. Davis defeated Smith by almost 5 percentage points, or about 12,000 votes.
Buckhout isn't burdened by that kind of turmoil, Francia said, and her military background may help her. Buckhout served in the U.S. Army for over 25 years before retiring in 2010 and starting a Virginia consulting company specialized in military technology, according to her website. She later sold it and moved to North Carolina a few years ago.
Buckhout says her military experience and her intent not to become a “professional politician” — she's agreed to be term-limited — will allow her to get things done.
One of the volunteers at party headquarters, John Norwood, said he didn't know much about Buckhout but appreciated her military service as a veteran himself. Some friends had told him about her race, so the 32-year-old blacksmith — wanting “real change" after avoiding politics for years — traveled more than 250 miles or 400 kilometers from McDowell County near Asheville to help out.
“She definitely seems like a candidate I'd want in office,” he said.
Davis, meanwhile, has cultivated a reputation as a moderate Democrat in a district he knows well. He grew up in Snow Hill and has served six terms as a state senator. An Air Force veteran himself, he has sponsored legislation in Congress to help veterans.
In a district that's more conservative than before, the top of the Democratic ticket could cost Davis some voters. But he hopes to benefit from Democrats energized by Harris' campaign, including Black voters, who make up more than 40% of his district's population.
Davis said in an interview that he's running much as he did in 2022 and remains committed to giving all eastern North Carolinians a “strong voice in government.” If he wins reelection, he said, he will work to strengthen the region's largely rural communities, including by expanding broadband access and improving Social Security benefits.
“It doesn't matter if they're Democrats, Republicans, independents, we're fighting for an eastern North Carolina that has been left out of a process for so long,” he said.
Buckhout focused on her own race after Robinson news
Since CNN reported on Robinson's alleged messages — which included comments such as “I'm a black NAZI!” and disparaging characterizations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — the lieutenant governor has denied the accusations, which The Associated Press has not independently confirmed. Robinson also has vowed to “use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies.”
The fallout has been substantial. Several members of Robinson's campaign staff have resigned. Multiple GOP officials — Sen. Thom Tillis and state party chairman Jason Simmons among them — have urged Robinson to disprove the allegations. Other groups, such as the Republican Governors Association, have cut ties financially.
Photos of Robinson and Buckhout together, once featured on her social media, now flash at the end of a television attack ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, connecting Buckhout to the lieutenant governor on abortion policies. She doesn't mention that she has donated to his campaign.
Davis said there's “no need” to tie Buckhout to Robinson because she's done that work herself. He said he trusts the district's voters to “sort through all of that.”
Buckhout says she's focused on her own race.
"If folks want to make it about social media and personalities, I want to make it about issues,” Buckhout said.
She said she's asking the same question she's asked voters throughout the race: Is anything any better than it was four years ago? Responses are “resoundingly no," she says.
Harris could be mixed blessing for Davis
Buckhout has worked to tie Davis to the Biden-Harris administration's economic policies — what she and other Republicans now call “Kamalanomics” — and to what they call the failure of Democrats on immigration and crime.
Davis actually voted to rebuke Harris' work at the U.S.-Mexico border in July, setting himself apart from most House Democrats. The next day, even as he endorsed Harris' presidential run on X, he noted that immigration issues “cannot be overlooked.”
Davis told The Associated Press he is “fully supportive” of Harris' presidential run and welcomes the opportunity to partner with her on “comprehensive immigration reform” to secure the border. He's also seen excitement for Harris firsthand in his district and said it was a “good environment to run in.”
“I am glad to endorse the vice president," Davis said. “We're committing to do everything to help her get elected.”
Voter turnout on both sides could be make or break for either candidate, Francia said. “We're in a very tight election where every vote could potentially make the difference."
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Leah Askarinam of the AP Decision Desk contributed from Washington.