The Winner

If you live in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) will keep representing you after winning a third term. NBC News projected Foushee the winner on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3. She won 79.1% of the vote to 18.9% for Republican Mahesh “Max” Ganorkar, a margin of about 60 points, with about 99% of the expected vote counted, according to NBC News. ​

Foushee had 283,255 votes to Ganorkar’s 67,799, and Libertarian Guy Meilleur took 6,961 votes, or 1.9%. Her share was up from 2024, when she won 71.8% against Republican Eric Blankenburg.

The Race

Foushee’s toughest test came in the March 3 Democratic primary, a rematch with Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam. Foushee won 49.2% to Allam’s 48.2%, a margin of 1,202 votes, and Allam conceded the next day, according to NC Newsline. Ganorkar, a Pittsboro businessman, ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Before the election, the major forecasters rated the seat Solid or Safe Democratic, according to Ballotpedia. The district covers all of Durham and Orange counties and parts of Chatham and Wake counties. Its communities include Durham, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, according to WRAL.

The district has about 769,700 residents, a median household income of $102,900 and a median age of 37.2. About 61.4% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment is 3.7% and 9.1% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are 54.6% white, 19.2% Black, 11.6% Hispanic and 11% Asian.

What’s Next

Foushee’s new term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, in a House that Democrats won control of in the midterms. On election night, she said affordability, including the cost of gas, groceries, health care and housing, was a top concern for voters, and that delivering relief would be a priority, according to Chapelboro. She serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

---

AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.

---

Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article