Eastern NC senator forgoes reelection, launches competitive congressional race
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sen. Bobby Hanig exits state legislature to run for U.S. House in NC-1 race.
- Hanig enters competitive GOP primary against Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson.
- Cook Report labels NC-1 a Democratic Toss Up with slight red voting trend.
The General Assembly must say goodbye to one of its more colorful characters, as Sen. Bobby Hanig announces he will forgo his reelection campaign and instead set his sights on Congress.
On Wednesday morning, Hanig, 61, a Republican from Powells Point, announced his campaign for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
“It’s going to be a super competitive race,” Hanig said. “The general election is going to be incredibly difficult. It’s going to be probably one of the top, maybe, five races that are watched in the country, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Hanig faces Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson, a 58-year-old Republican, in the March 3 primary as Republicans attempt to take back the House seat from Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat.
1st Congressional District
North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District stands out from the other 13 because it’s the only competitive race where either a Democrat or Republican could win. The Cook Political Report classified the district as a Democrat Toss Up, meaning it could go to a candidate from either party. By the numbers, the district leans slightly red.
Davis represents more than 20 counties in North Carolina’s northeast. The district has been a Democratic stronghold since 1899, but is drawn in a way that Republicans could take it over.
Republicans won back control of the House in 2022, and currently holds the majority by seven seats, with four vacancies caused by deaths and a resignation.
Davis has already been named to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s target list for the 2026 election. The committee is chaired by North Carolina’s Rep. Richard Hudson, from Southern Pines.
Davis has not formally announced his decision to run for reelection, but is anticipated to do so.
Who is Don Davis?
Davis, 54, a Snow Hill resident first elected to Congress in 2022, is now in his second term representing the district. Prior to Davis’ tenure, Rep. G.K. Butterfield had held the seat since 2004.
Davis is known as a moderate Democrat, and he’s often unafraid to vote against his own party.
Voteview, a website that tracks the votes and ideologies of each member of Congress, ranks Davis as more conservative than 84% of Democrats in the House and more liberal than 58% of the entire House.
In an interview, Hanig signaled he’ll make the case that Davis doesn’t do enough to buck his party. Hanig said he was caught off guard by a vote Davis took on Jan. 14. House members passed a bill that prevents transgender women from playing in women’s sports with 216 Republicans voting in favor of the bill, and two Democrats joining them.
Every other Democrat voted against it.
Except Davis. He voted present, which means he was at the vote, but didn’t take a side.
“He wouldn’t even take a stand,” Hanig said. “In Northeast North Carolina. In Eastern North Carolina. It’s remarkable.”
Hanig’s alliances
Hanig made clear in an interview Tuesday that his loyalty lies with President Donald Trump and his agenda, even though he at one point endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president.
“I’ve got a sports coat, a red and white sports coat, with Donald Trump’s face all over it,” Hanig said.
Hanig is known for his flamboyant suits. He said it started as a joke when he was first elected to a public office. He only owned a black one, for funerals and weddings, so as he shopped for a new wardrobe, he sent his daughter a picture of a blue paisley-covered suit he found at the store.
“That’s pretty crazy, right?” she asked.
He decided he would buy it and wear it to a future party. But when he wore it instead to a meeting, he got such a big response, he made eccentric suits part of his wardrobe.
But he added he also has many Trump hats, as he defended his support of Trump against his DeSantis endorsement.
Hanig remembers being approached at a meet-and-greet about whether he would endorse DeSantis, and Hanig said he was worried Trump wouldn’t run again.
“There were a lot of very smart and very seasoned politicians throughout the country that really thought Donald Trump had no chance of running ever again,” Hanig said.
He added that that information had trickled down to him, and he began to wonder who else could put North Carolina on the right track. He had been following DeSantis, was impressed by a Greensboro speech DeSantis made and thought he could be that guy.
So when Hanig was asked if he would endorse DeSantis, he said he agreed, but added that if Trump ran, he would back him instead.
“I was very clear about that,” Hanig said. “I really didn’t think much of it. It was kind of early in the race.”
North State Journal published a list on June 28, 2023, of 19 North Carolina leaders including Hanig who endorsed DeSantis. Trump had announced he was running seven months before. Hanig said he didn’t hear anything about his endorsement of DeSantis again after that first conversation.
Trump’s agenda
And now he’s focused on working to move Trump’s agenda forward.
“We have to push the Trump agenda,” Hanig said. “That’s the bottom line, because it’s working and people around the world have noticed …”
Hanig said he believes that the war in Ukraine wouldn’t have happened had Trump been president.
He supports Trump’s tariffs.
In Congress, Hanig said, he wants to advocate for having the strongest and most capable military, supporting Israel and the Jewish people, helping local farmers, ending culture wars, protecting the border and bringing control of education back to the states.
“Donald Trump has done some amazing things in 200 days,” Hanig said.
And Hanig wants to ensure a Republican is elected to help protect that.
Constituency services
A county commissioner’s inability to help solve a problem Hanig had as a small business owner led him to run for an elected office in the first place, he said.
Hanig was born in South Philadelphia to a divorced, 21-year-old mother with three children. She would fall in love with and marry a Navy man and Hanig would move from state-to-state until the family settled down in Virginia Beach, where he learned to surf, and learned to love North Carolina.
“That’s where the waves were,” Hanig said. “I took a ride, however I could get (to Currituck beaches), I’d get there. And I just always knew that I needed to live in North Carolina.”
Hanig joined the Army after high school, became a railroad mechanic, traveled the United States and to Colombia for his job, before buying land in Powells Point and starting over again.
Hanig launched his own business and needed help from the Currituck County Board of Commissioners with a new building for the company, but he said his commissioner did nothing. As he talked to someone about his trouble, they suggested he run.
He did, his predecessor dropped out of the race — leaving him unopposed — and he was elected chairman at his first meeting.
That role propelled him to a run for North Carolina House and then Senate, where he and Davis overlapped briefly.
“I got into politics because my politician wouldn’t help me,” Hanig said. “That’s just the way I feel about it. I’m in this position to help people, and people call me with a multitude of things on any given day ... It’s amazing that I get to help people.”
He recently crossed swords with Republican Senate leader Phil Berger over a bill that would ban shrimp trawling in sounds, where Hanig said 75% of North Carolina’s industry get their shrimp. Hanig said it would shut down the industry in North Carolina and fought against it.
The Senate passed the bill, despite Hanig’s objections, but it was blocked by House Republicans.
Hanig told McClatchy Tuesday he’s not afraid to stand up for his constituents; it’s what they expect him to do. He said he was a team player in the House, and voted maybe once against his party.
“They didn’t try to raise taxes by creating tolls on ferries and trying to wipe out an entire industry with one stroke of a pen in the dark of night,” Hanig said. “If you attack my people, I’m coming after you, and I’m leaving some shrapnel behind. I’m just going to do it. That’s what they expect me to do, and that’s what I’m going to do. “
