Who's In the Race

Rep. Valerie P. Foushee (D-NC) faces Republican Mahesh Ganorkar and Libertarian Guy Meilleur in the November 3 general election in North Carolina's 4th District. ​

Foushee has represented the district since 2023, after serving a decade in the North Carolina General Assembly and earlier stints on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education and the Orange County Board of Commissioners. She won the March 3 Democratic primary with about 49 percent of the vote over runner-up Nida Allam, a margin of just 1,171 votes out of 125,655 cast, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

The Republican primary was not held; Ganorkar advanced without a primary vote. Ganorkar is a residential construction project manager and home builder who describes himself as a small-business owner; he holds an MBA in international finance and marketing and is an immigrant from India who became a U.S. citizen.

Meilleur is a consulting arborist who has run a small business in North Carolina for 40 years.

What They Stand For

Foushee has called healthcare a human right and supports Medicare for All, according to her official House website. She's also supported:

  • Restoring abortion rights and protecting access to reproductive care,
  • Standing up to tariffs and corporate price-gouging, expanding affordable housing and strengthening protections for working families,
  • Cancelling existing student loan debt and making community college tuition-free; and
  • The Green New Deal and a transition to clean energy.

Ganorkar has proposed replacing baseline budgeting with need-based budgeting that requires departments to justify requested funds, calling it his most critical issue, according to The News & Observer. He's also supported:

  • Tax-filing-based insurance vouchers for eligible citizens and allowing insurance purchases across state lines,
  • Reforms to lower home and auto insurance costs and exploring fixed-rate mortgages for primary residences,
  • More domestic oil production, refineries and nuclear plants, and eliminating tariffs for immediate cost relief; and
  • School choice and education vouchers, saying "Parents — not government bureaucracies or lobbyists — should have the primary authority over their children's education."

Meilleur has called artificial general intelligence a threat and says Congress should establish guardrails, according to The News & Observer.

Race Outlook: Ratings and Betting Markets

Cook Political Report rated the race Solid Democratic as of Oct. 9; Sabato's Crystal Ball agreed as of Oct. 11; and Inside Elections also rated it Solid Democratic as of Oct. 2. Kalshi traders gave Democrats, whose nominee is Foushee, a 94.65 percent chance of winning as of Oct. 15.

The district's voting history reinforces that outlook. Foushee won the 2022 race with about 67 percent of the vote and the 2024 race with about 72 percent. Republicans won 10 of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House seats and Democrats won 4, while in 2022 the two parties split the delegation evenly, seven seats apiece. Donald Trump carried North Carolina in the 2024 presidential election with about 51 percent of the vote. The 4th District has bucked that statewide Republican lean in each of the past two cycles, giving Foushee margins well above the national average for competitive House races.

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