Orange County state lawmaker announces run for Congress
State Sen. Valerie Foushee announced Wednesday she is running to represent the Triangle in the U.S. House.
“I am thrilled to enter this race and bring a fighter for North Carolina to Congress,” Foushee told McClatchy in a written statement. “I’ve dedicated my entire life to public service, and I know and understand the values of this district.”
Foushee said if elected to Congress she wants to be a champion for working families, a leader in criminal justice reform and tackling systemic racism, and to help protect the environment while addressing climate change.
Foushee is a lifelong resident of Orange County, which is now part of North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District along with Durham and portions of Wake.
The left-leaning district has already drawn a crowd of Democrats vying for the seat after U.S. Rep. David Price announced his retirement in October.
Democrat Richard Watkins, a virologist who previously had been running for U.S. Senate, announced his candidacy Wednesday as well. Watkins ran in the 2018 primary against Price, finishing a distant third. Watkins, founder of the The Science Policy Action Network, said the district with its concentration of universities and highly educated population presents “an opportunity for science to lead.”
State lawmakers gave final approval to the redrawn congressional districts on Nov. 4, adding a 14th seat based on Census data.
Foushee’s career
Foushee has had a long political career that includes serving on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board and the Orange County Board of Commissioners and representing the area in both the N.C. House and Senate.
She said she began in politics out of a desire to ensure Black and brown children had an advocate on the school board.
When Foushee grew up in Orange County, she attended segregated schools until the sixth grade.
She was born to two teenage parents and watched as they struggled to make ends meet raising her and her five younger siblings.
Foushee retired after 21 years from the Chapel Hill Police Department where as an administrator she oversaw two units.
During her tenure she would leave her shift at the department at 7 a.m. and would go to her children’s school to volunteer.
Her role on the school board propelled her to be elected as the first African American woman on the commissioners. After she began serving in the House she was selected to fill a vacancy in the Senate, where she has continued to serve for the past four terms.
Foushee said she focused her efforts in the legislature on issues including education, creating good-paying jobs and being a champion for underrepresented communities.
6th District race
Foushee likely starts the 6th district race as one of the front runners.
Foushee’s campaign staff included a list of nearly 30 endorsements that includes former state Sens. Mickey Michaux and Sam Searcy, as well as Sens. Natalie Murdock and Mike Woodard and Reps. Marcia Morey and Graig Meyer.
It also includes commissioners, sheriffs, city council members and school board members from the district.
Several other Democrats have already announced their run, including former Obama staffer and state Sen. Wiley Nickel; Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina; small business owner and Air Force veteran Nathan Click and Duke University Senior Policy Associate Ashley Chandler Ward.
So far only Robert Thomas and Mahesh Ganorkar are running for the Republican nomination.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 7:30 AM.