NC lawmakers top lists for speeches, conservative votes. See their year in review
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- C-SPAN data: Rep. Don Davis led one‑minute speeches, delivering 32 in 2025.
- Voteview rated Rep. Pat Harrigan the most conservative member of Congress.
- Legislative output varied: Sen. Tillis filed 49 bills, Rep. Knott filed only 3.
New statistics about Congress came out after its members wrapped up for the year, answering the questions of who in North Carolina talks the most, who is the most conservative, and did they actually do anything in 2025?
The end of each year offers insight into how well members of Congress are representing their constituents in Washington and a window into whether their work reflects the values of their voters.
This is especially important in North Carolina after state lawmakers redrew its congressional map both for the 2024 and 2026 elections.
The 2024 election ushered in new lawmakers to represent five of North Carolina’s 14 congressional districts. Reps. Pat Harrigan, Mark Harris, Brad Knott, Addison McDowell and Tim Moore each just completed the first year of their first term.
Other lawmakers like Reps. Virginia Foxx, Alma Adams, Richard Hudson and David Rouzer have been representing the state more than 10 years.
All 14 representatives, plus one of North Carolina’s Senate seats, will appear on the 2026 ballot. And Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill, is under threat as Republicans attempt to flip his seat.
At the end of each year, C-SPAN rounds up statistics on each member of Congress and how they performed in the past 12 months, from how many bills they filed to how many votes they missed to how often they spoke on the floor.
Two North Carolinians took top billing in two categories: most conservative member of Congress and most likely to give one-minute speeches.
Here’s what C-SPAN found for North Carolina’s lawmakers
Who represents the state?
- Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill, represents North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
- Deborah Ross, a Democrat from Raleigh, represents North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District.
- Greg Murphy, a Republican from Greenville, represents North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District.
- Valerie Foushee, a Democrat from Hillsborough, represents North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District.
- Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District.
- McDowell, a Republican from Bermuda Run, represents North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.
- Rouzer, a Republican from Wilmington, represents North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District.
- Harris, a Republican from Charlotte, represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District.
- Hudson, a Republican from Southern Pines, represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.
- Harrigan, a Republican from Hickory, represents North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District.
- Chuck Edwards, a Republican from Flat Rock, represents North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.
- Adams, a Democrat from Charlotte, represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.
- Knott, a Republican from Raleigh, represents North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District.
- Moore, a Republican from Kings Mountain, represents North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District.
- Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, serves as North Carolina’s senior senator.
- Ted Budd, a Republican from Advance, serves as North Carolina’s junior senator.
Voter’s can look up who represents them in Congress on the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ website.
Bills sponsored
Each member of Congress has the opportunity to sponsor bills.
All of North Carolina’s lawmakers filed at least three bills, with Knott having filed the fewest and Tillis filing the most at 49.
None of these bills became law as standalone bills.
But lawmakers worked with their colleagues to slide some policies into other successful bills. That happened in December with the Lumbee Recognition Act, ending a 137-year battle for federal recognition by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Lawmakers used a defense spending bill as a vehicle to get it passed.
Here’s how many bills North Carolina’s lawmakers put forward:
- Adams: 15
- Budd: 27
- Davis: 27
- Edwards: 12
- Foushee: 13
- Foxx: 20
- Harrigan: 13
- Harris: 13
- Hudson: 14
- Knott: 3
- McDowell: 11
- Moore: 19
- Murphy: 31
- Ross: 16
- Rouzer: 26
- Tillis: 49
Bills cosponsored
Members of Congress can also support the legislation of their colleagues by signing on as cosponsors.
All of North Carolina’s lawmakers did that in some capacity.
Again, Knott signed his name to the least at 32, but this time it was Davis, at 261, who signed on as a cosponsor the most.
Here are the numbers:
- Adams: 144
- Budd: 211
- Davis: 261
- Edwards: 107
- Foushee: 169
- Foxx: 54
- Harrigan: 85
- Harris: 63
- Hudson: 90
- Knott: 32
- McDowell: 110
- Moore: 102
- Murphy: 104
- Ross: 184
- Rouzer: 107
- Tillis: 238
Most common bill topics
North Carolina’s lawmakers introduced and became cosponsors of bills on a wide range of topics.
These topics often reflect the committees lawmakers serve on, policies they’re passionate about or campaigned on, or issues that came up in their past careers.
C-SPAN labeled the top-line policy issues each North Carolina lawmaker introduced, except Harrigan, whose sponsored legislation was not labeled by the nonprofit.
Here’s a taste of what topics they introduced bills on:
- Agriculture and food (Rouzer)
- Armed forces and national security (Davis, Edwards, Murphy, Tillis)
- Civil rights and liberties (Adams)
- Commerce (Budd, Tillis)
- Congress (Foxx)
- Crime and law enforcement (Budd, Moore)
- Education (Adams, Foxx)
- Emergency management (Edwards)
- Finance and financial sector (Moore)
- Foreign trade and international finance (Murphy)
- Government operations and politics (Edwards, Foxx)
- Immigration (Knott)
- International affairs (Ross, Rouzer, Tillis)
- Law (Ross)
- Native Americans (Tillis)
- Public lands and natural resources (Murphy, Tillis)
- Taxation (Murphy)
- Transportation and public works (Foushee, Knott, McDowell, Rouzer)
- Science and technology (Budd)
Attendance in Congress
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress allowed voting by proxy — which meant House of Representatives members did not need to physically be present in Washington to vote, though the Senate’s rules were stricter and senators did have to be on campus, just not on the floor.
When Republicans took over the House, they did away with that rule, meaning members must be present to vote. But things can arise, from important phone calls to sickness or family emergencies that can keep them away.
Often lawmakers announce why they were absent and how they would have voted had they been present.
Here’s how often North Carolina’s members were present for votes:
- Adams: 100%
- Budd: 96.5%
- Davis: 99.7%
- Edwards: 97.5%
- Foushee: 98.3%
- Foxx: 99.2%
- Harrigan: 98.1%
- Harris: 100%
- Hudson: 97.8%
- Knott: 98.9%
- McDowell: 99.2%
- Moore: 99.7%
- Murphy: 89.8%
- Ross: 100%
- Rouzer: 98.9%
- Tillis: 88.3%
Votes against party majority
It’s unusual for North Carolina’s members of Congress to vote in defiance of their own party. The exception to that rule is Davis.
Davis represents a swing district and his votes tend to reflect that. In fact, 36 times in the past year he voted out of step with the majority of his party.
Tillis voted out of step with most Republicans nine times — most notably when he disagreed with President Donald Trump, over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Tillis argued the bill would reduce North Carolina’s health care coverage, causing a public dispute between the senator and the president that ultimately led Tillis not to run for reelection.
Budd twice voted counter to the majority of his party: once on the nomination of Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and another time on a procedural vote on a Homeland Security undersecretary as a way to warn Secretary Kristi Noem that he would block nominations to her department if she did not release money for Helene relief to the state.
One-minute speeches
House members are allowed to come to the floor and speak on any topic for one minute. Lawmakers often use these speeches to honor someone who has died from their community, someone notable or something of importance.
Davis is Congress’ most prolific user of one-minute speeches, often highlighting people and things in his district. In fact, he’s made 32 of them. Combined with other times he’s addressed the House, he’s spent more days — 86 — on the House floor than all but one other House member.
One notable speech, in September, was Davis’ recap of a visit to the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf during the August recess. He signed to students watching back home “Hornets! I love you!” followed by the American Sign Language sign for applause.
The Senate doesn’t use these speeches, but senators can bring concerns to the floor during morning business.
Here is how often members of the House made one-minute speeches:
- Adams: 1
- Davis: 32
- Edwards: 0
- Foushee: 3
- Foxx: 4
- Harrigan: 0
- Harris: 4
- Hudson: 1
- Knott: 1
- McDowell: 2
- Moore: 3
- Murphy: 1
- Ross: 5
- Rouzer: 0
Time speaking on the floor
Lawmakers aren’t restricted to one-minute speeches. Sometimes they speak to formally introduce bills. Sometimes they speak in support or opposition of various policies. C-SPAN broke down how often each lawmaker spoke over the past year.
North Carolina’s senators spoke the most often, with Tillis speaking for four hours and Budd speaking for three. But Foxx, who chairs the House Committee on Rules and often introduces bills on the floor, kept up with the senators, also speaking for three hours.
Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee that campaigns for the election of Republicans to the House, spoke for just eight minutes.
Here’s the full list:
- Adams: 12 minutes
- Budd: 3 hours
- Davis: 2 hours
- Edwards: 14 minutes
- Foushee: 20 minutes
- Foxx: 3 hours
- Harrigan: 6 minutes
- Harris: 36 minutes
- Hudson: 8 minutes
- Knott: 55 minutes
- McDowell: 21 minutes
- Moore: 54 minutes
- Murphy: 8 minutes
- Ross: 27 minutes
- Rouzer: 14 minutes
- Tillis: 4 hours
Party loyalty
Voteview, developed at Carnegie-Mellon University, tracked every roll call vote in American history to rate the ideological positions of anyone who ever served in Congress.
A new year means new statistics for the past 12 months and five new lawmakers to look at.
One of them, has been named the most conservative lawmaker in all of Congress.
Here’s where Voteview says they stand ideologically:
- Adams: “More liberal than 73% of Democrats in the House.”
- Budd: “More conservative than 70% of Republicans in the Senate.”
- Davis: “More conservative than 86% of Democrats in the House.”
- Edwards: “More liberal than 79% of the Republicans in the House.”
- Foushee: “More liberal than 85% of Democrats in the House.”
- Foxx: “More conservative than 69% of Republicans in the House.”
- Harrigan: “The most conservative member of the 119th Congress.”
- Harris: “More conservative than 99% of Republicans in House.”
- Hudson: “More liberal than 50% of Republicans in the House.”
- Knott: “More conservative than 97% of Republicans in the House. “
- McDowell: “More liberal than 53% of Republicans in the House.”
- Moore: “More conservative than 60% of Republicans in the House.”
- Murphy: “More liberal than 58% of the Republicans in the House.”
- Ross: “More conservative than 52% of Democrats in the House.”
- Rouzer: “More conservative than 59% of Republicans in the House.”
- Tillis: “More liberal than 87% of Republicans in the Senate.”
Monday starts the second year of the current session of Congress. North Carolina’s primary election is March 3.
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
