NC Newsline -The Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District is heading to a likely recount, with incumbent Valerie Foushee leading by one percentage point.
In unofficial results, Foushee won 49.22% of the vote, just 1.01% more than the 48.21% for Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam. Mary Patterson won 2.6%. Foushee leads Allam by 1,202 votes out of nearly 122,000 primary votes cast.
Provisional ballots and some military and overseas votes are yet to be counted. If the margin is 1% or less after those votes are counted, Allam may request a mandatory recount.
Allam took the stage at her watch party just before midnight, addressing supporters, staff and press after about five hours.
Though we go to bed tonight without the full results, we will keep exercising our right to dream, and we will bring home a victory for the working families of North Carolina in the days ahead,” Allam told supporters.
The race broke records for outside spending in a North Carolina congressional primary. Independent expenditure groups dropped nearly $4.5 million on advertising for the candidates as of Monday, beating the previous record set by the 2022 contest between Allam and Foushee.
The primary was symbolic of the emerging battle between progressive and establishment wings of the Democratic party. This divide deepened in the wake of the 2024 elections, where Democrats lost the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Foushee, having served in Congress for two terms, has the support of the traditional Democratic base, especially among Black voters. She’s a fixture in Orange County politics and was previously a state representative and senator and the chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
Allam had the backing of progressives like independent Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who stumped for her as part of his Fighting Oligarchy Tour in Durham last month.
The Democratic nominee will face Republican Manesh Gunorkar and Libertarian Guy Meilleur on the ballot in November, but is expected to win easily in the reliably Democratic-leaning district.
