NC Democrat Don Davis missed some controversial votes, but there’s more to the story
Republicans are attacking Rep. Don Davis for what they call a pattern of skipping controversial votes — while Davis’ campaign says that’s a “ghoulish” attack on his absence for a death in the family.
Davis, a Democrat and former state senator from Snow Hill, is the only North Carolina member of Congress in a competitive race this election. He’s facing off against retired Army Col. Laurie Buckhout, a Republican from Edenton.
They are running in North Carolina’s only swing district, where voters are just as likely to choose a Democrat as a Republican to represent them in Congress.
Since February 2023, Davis has found himself on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s list of targets for districts they hope to flip red in an attempt by Republicans to maintain the House, which they hold by a razor-thin majority.
The political committee’s latest attacks on Davis focus on how many votes Davis missed, and the types he missed.
Davis’ campaign team sent McClatchy a 12-page response to the accusations. That report says the majority of his absences came during a two-week period when he was burying his grandmother, who raised him. It also says that Davis has not only cast votes on contentious issues, but gone against his own party.
The report from Davis’ campaign matches independent reporting by McClatchy. Here’s what we found.
Missed votes
Between July and September 2023, Civic Impulse, the organization NRCC used to track Davis’ absences, found that the congressman missed 32 of 224 roll-call votes, or 14.3%.
Civic Impulse also recorded that from the start of his first term in Congress in January 2023 through this July, Davis has missed 42 roll call votes out of 1,124, making his 3.7% of missed votes higher than the 2.1% median of lifetime records for his colleagues.
On July 15, 2023, Davis’ grandmother died. Edna Earle Harper Dixon, 89, had worked for both the Greene and Wayne county school systems.
And she helped raise Davis.
Davis traveled back to North Carolina to help plan and carry out the funeral. His staff provided video of Dixon’s funeral, which included Davis giving her eulogy.
“Attacking Congressman Davis for grieving and eulogizing his grandmother who raised him is the type of ghoulish behavior that should have no place in politics,” said Lauryn Fanguen, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Civic Impulse notes that the organization does not track why a lawmaker misses votes and that could include major life events, running for higher offices or medical issues.
Since September, Davis has not missed more than three votes a quarter, and has missed less than 1.3% of votes in 2024.
In the state Senate, Davis missed only 32 of 6,161 votes over a 12-year period, according to the General Assembly’s website.
Avoiding controversy
But NRCC also zeroed in on the types of votes Davis missed, saying he skips votes that are partisan or controversial and range from immigration matters to abortion to the Israel-Hamas War.
“If actions speak louder than words, Don Davis’ actions say he hides when the going gets tough,” said Delanie Bomar, spokeswoman for NRCC, in a written statement to McClatchy. “Davis has avoided taking a stand for long enough and North Carolinians deserve better than an empty suit politician like Don Davis.”
In Congress, NRCC pointed to four controversial votes that Davis skipped:
A bill banning federal funds from going to sports teams that allow participation of transgender players;
A bill that prohibits public schools from providing housing for immigrants in the country without legal authorization;
A resolution of Congress’ support of Israel;
A resolution censuring Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling a fire alarm.
But those four bills don’t paint a full picture of Davis’ record. While Republicans are correct that Davis didn’t show up for these four votes, he did take votes on other, similarly controversial legislation.
Leadership votes
Civic Impulse scores Davis’ ideology as moderate, closer in line with his Republican colleagues than most Democrats.
During his time, thus far, on the Hill, Davis cast several votes on whether Congress should rebuke fellow Democrats — mostly standing with his party, but at least once standing against it.
That crossing of party lines came when he voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib regarding comments she made on the Israel-Hamas War.
The votes in which Davis stuck with his party included:
▪ Opposing the censure of Rep. Adam Schiff for leading investigations into former President Donald Trump.
▪ Voting not to find Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a congressional subpoena.
▪ Voting not to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to comply with federal immigration laws and breach of public trust.
▪ Voting against allowing committees to investigate whether there was enough evidence to impeach President Joe Biden.
Davis also voted with his party to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy. And he voted to expel former Rep. George Santos.
Immigration
When it came to immigration policy, Davis was present and voted for a handful of bills, including one that mirrored legislation that NRCC faulted Davis for missing. He also voted several times against his party.
In June 2023, Davis voted on a resolution that would prevent public schools from being used to house immigrants who came into the United States without permission. The resolution began after New York City officials decided to house 300 immigrants in 20 public school gymnasiums, creating concerns that they were taking away resources from students.
Both Davis, and Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat from Cary, voted for this resolution, becoming two of seven Democrats to side with Republicans.
Davis also voted against his party:
to condemn Biden for his open border policies
to require the Department of Justice to report the impact of Biden’s border policies on local law enforcement to federal law enforcement.
in support of a resolution calling for the detaining and deporting of immigrants who came into the country without permission and assaulted police officers.
to support a resolution criticizing Biden for his border policies and acknowledging the dangers and challenges posed to law enforcement.
to instruct Biden to come up with new policies on immigration
to increase prison sentences for anyone who gives location and activity information of law enforcement officers in order to commit crimes related to immigration, customs or drugs.
to support the Laken Riley Act, which requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain non-U.S. nationals arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting and gives states the right to sue the federal government for harm caused by these individuals.
to support a prohibition on using federal land overseen by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service or the Fish and Wildlife Service from housing immigrants who entered the country without permission.
Israel
Davis also voted on several bills involving the Israel-Hamas war and often went against his own party.
Davis voted:
against his party to give money to the Department of Defense and the Department of State to defend Israel. The bill included a poison pill that clawed back $14.3 billion from the IRS given through the Inflation Reduction Act.
against his party again when a similar bill came up months later, this time stripping the IRS clawback from the bill, but also lacking funding for the war in Ukraine or humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.
against his party to on a resolution condemning antisemitism on college campuses and the testimony of some university presidents.
against his party to prevent federal funds from being used to withhold or stop delivery of items or services to aid Israel. The bill also prevented the Department of Defense or the State Department from paying the salaries of any employees who limited defense deliveries to Israel.
Missed votes
Davis’ team didn’t comment specifically on the votes Davis missed in Congress, but part of their 12-page response addressed the votes the NRCC accused him of missing in the state Senate.
Votes he missed included:
Requiring people to use the public restrooms based on the sex they were assigned at birth, known as House Bill 2 (became law)
A bill that would require sheriffs to cooperate with immigration officials (vetoed)
A bill that would allow the use of medical marijuana (died in House rules committee).
A bill that would require a permit from the local sheriff’s office to buy a pistol (vetoed)
A bill preventing the teaching of critical race theory in public schools (vetoed)
A bill preventing women from getting abortions based on a fetus’ race, sex or diagnosis of Down syndrome. (Vetoed)
A bill requiring doctors to attempt life-saving measures after a botched abortion (Died in House rules committee)
A bill changing standards for abortion clinics. (became law)
Fanguen said that NRCC egregiously misrepresented Davis’ votes and that much of the legislation was vetoed because it was “extreme and conspiracy-laden in nature or died in committee.”
Four of the bills were vetoed by the governor, while two died in the House rules committee.
The NRCC also accused Davis of missing a vote on a bill requiring students to learn how smoking, alcohol and drugs can harm fetal development. However, Davis did vote on that bill earlier. After the bill passed the Senate with his support, the House edited wording in the bill and sent it back to the Senate for another vote. Davis had an excused absence that day.
