Durham Commissioner Nida Allam to challenge Foushee in Democratic primary rematch
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Nida Allam launches congressional bid to challenge Rep. Valerie Foushee.
- Progressive groups and Sen. Bernie Sanders endorse Allam in primary election.
- Allam frames campaign around working families, anti-corporate funding, and immigration.
Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam launched a campaign for Congress on Thursday, setting up a high-stakes Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Valerie Foushee to represent the western Triangle.
Allam, who made history as the first Muslim woman to hold public office in the state, begins her bid with the backing of national progressive figures and groups including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Justice Democrats, a grassroots political action committee behind campaigns for lawmakers like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She is also supported by Leaders We Deserve, the Sunrise Movement, and the Working Families Party, making this the first primary campaign of the election cycle backed by this combined set of national progressive endorsements.
Foushee, meanwhile, filed to run for a third term with strong support from the state’s Democratic establishment, highlighting endorsements from Gov. Josh Stein, former Gov. Roy Cooper and 50 other local leaders.
The winner of the March primary election is highly likely to win in November in the deeply Democratic district representing Durham, Orange and parts of Wake and Chatham counties.
Allam framed her bid as a response to crises, campaigning against “Republican authoritarianism and corporate billionaire greed.”
“One of the reasons I’ve run for office, even for county commissioner, has always been advocating for working families and having their voices be at the forefront of what I do,” Allam said in a phone call. “And making sure Durham and Durham County is a place where everyone can build their lives and raise a family and live with dignity.”
Allam said that with “Trump 2.0” making good on his campaign-trail promises to crack down on immigration and deportations and to make significant federal funding cuts, “we have to be stepping up and fighting back against him.”
“We need to have people in federal office who are accountable to the working families, and not accountable to the corporate PACs and the dark money special interest groups,” she said.
Allam’s announcement comes two weeks after U.S. Border Patrol agents launched a series of arrests in the Triangle, and months after dozens of residents lost jobs due to federal funding cuts by DOGE. She has been outspokenly critical of the Trump administration and of Foushee, who defeated her to win her first term.
A political rematch
The clash revives a 2022 primary contest for the open seat vacated by retiring Rep. David Price. Allam blamed an “unprecedented flood of corporate funding that supported Foushee.”
Foushee, a Chapel Hill native and the first Black woman to become a commissioner in Orange County, said she is emphasizing her focus on ending the “disastrous Republican majority” in the Capitol. She has prioritized health care, environmental protection, and community needs like housing and veterans’ support. She has also been openly critical of federal funding cuts and deployment of ICE and Border Patrol.
“Right now, it’s clear that Washington isn’t working for the American people,” she said in a news release. “We have got to put a stop to the chaos and get Congress back to work to make progress for the people.”
In 2022, Foushee’s campaign raised significant sums, and also benefited from nearly $4 million in outside spending from groups such as the pro-Israel PAC American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel group Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), and from California cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried.
At an August town hall, Foushee said she would not be accepting money from AIPAC for her reelection, according to a report by INDY Week. A news release quotes supporters who praise Foushee’s “progressive values” and her commitment to service.
“Congresswoman Foushee has been a trusted partner in standing up for North Carolinians when it comes to expanding Medicaid in our state, protecting access to reproductive care, and creating good-paying jobs in the clean energy economy of the future,” Cooper said in a statement.
Allam criticizes Foushee for being “bankrolled” by corporations and for being “missing in action during multiple crises.”
She pledged not to accept any money from corporate PACs, pro-Israel or crypto groups, she said. Instead, Allam said she wants to focus on grassroots power and funding.
“I’m proud to not accept any of that money,” she said. “It might make the campaign harder, but it will make all of it worth it because when I get to Washington, I’m taking the voices of the people with me.”
Alexandra Rojas, the executive director of Justice Democrats, said Allam “has shown this district that you can build a bold, progressive agenda that serves working class communities and actually deliver on it.”
With Allam’s announcement, Foushee faces three challengers for the 4th Congressional District seat. Republican Mahesh Ganorkar and Democrat Mary Patterson have also filed to run. The filing period ends on Dec. 19.
A local commissioner’s track record
Sanders said Allam has spent her life “standing up to the billionaire class and fighting for working people.”
“Raising wages for county workers, pushing for relief from rising costs, and standing up to the special interests who think they can buy our democracy,” he said in a statement. “At a moment when the oligarchs are tightening their grip on government, we need leaders like Nida; leaders who answer to working families, not the billionaire class.”
Allam grew up in western Wake County and is the daughter of Pakistani and Indian immigrants. In 2015, she said she was deeply affected by the shooting in Chapel Hill, where she lost three Muslim friends. She said the tragedy inspired her subsequent political organizing, including working on Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and serving as vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
As a county commissioner, Allam became chair of the board in 2023, focusing on education, wages, jobs, housing and immigration. She also helped pass the county’s first billion-dollar budget over the summer with emphasis on Durham’s education, public safety, and minimum wage.
Allam said she was excited to head out on the campaign trail over the next several months in the district, which was redrawn since the last time she ran.
“This district represents every single aspect of my life,” she said, adding that she went to elementary school in Apex, college at NC State University, and is raising her young family in Durham. “I’m excited to bring the love that I have and the stories that I’ve heard and have myself.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM.