Filing for the 2022 primary elections closed at noon on Friday, after months of political and legal wrangling that has gone all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The fight in the courts and the General Assembly is likely not over yet, but the races for North Carolina’s 14 congressional districts are officially in full swing.
Two longtime Democratic congressmen are retiring this year: David Price and G.K. Butterfield. That means there are open elections in the 4th Congressional District, which includes Durham and Chapel Hill, and in eastern North Carolina’s 1st District.
Republican Rep. Ted Budd is also not running for reelection to the House, instead campaigning for the Senate seat left open with Richard Burr’s retirement. The third open race this year will be in the new 13th District, which includes Johnston County and parts of Wake, Harnett and Wayne counties.
“I have firmly made a decision that it is time for me to retire and pass the baton to a younger member of Congress, someone with fresh ideas and a fresh vision for the country,” Butterfield said this week in an interview with Spectrum News 1.
Butterfield announced his retirement when the GOP-led General Assembly approved its first set of redistricting maps. He criticized the legislature at the time for gerrymandering the congressional maps so a Republican could have won his seat.
“When I first looked at the map, I knew right away, just by looking at the political landscape, that it was a very, very unfair map for Democrats,” he said.
But that map has changed since the fall, with the courts creating a new congressional map for the 2022 election.
“I believe the district is now a blue district, I think it can be won. It’s not going to be an absolute certainty, but it’s a 53% Democrat district and I believe we will elect a good strong Democrat to represent the 1st Congressional District,” Butterfield said.
North Carolina is a purple state, roughly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. Butterfield’s district, which includes a large swath of northeast North Carolina, has traditionally voted for Democrats.
There are six Republicans running for the nomination in the 1st District, including Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson. As of Friday morning, four Democrats have filed to run for the district.
Butterfield said he plans to endorse one of the Democratic candidates. He said he knows some of the candidates, but will base his decision to endorse on who he thinks can best win the seat.
After 18 years representing the district, Butterfield said he has some advice for candidates running from both sides of the aisle.
“The first piece of advice would be: Don’t go negative. North Carolina voters want a dignified, competitive campaign. They don’t want their political candidates to get in the gutter and engage in disinformation or misinformation,” he said.
His second piece of advice: “Get out and touch the people. We are climbing out of the pandemic right now and voters want to see their candidates, they want to feel them, they want to hear what they have to say, even if they disagree with the candidate’s position.”
“Get out into the community, talk to people of all persuasions, even that you strongly disagree with. They need to hear from you,” the congressman said.
“Do not forget the faith dimension of the campaign,” he said. “This calling is about more than a political assignment. This calling is about serving the people, serving the least of these in your community.”
“Poverty is a huge challenge in North Carolina,” Butterfield said. “We have six counties in the 1st Congressional District that have been classified by the Census Bureau as ‘persistent poverty counties,’ that means that they have poverty rates that exceed 20% and these rates have persisted continuously for the last 30 years.”
Ultimately, he said, it’s about representing the district and North Carolina.
“With a good strong turnout in November, I am confident that Democrats can win seats, Republicans can win seats, and then we can join hands to represent North Carolina in a mighty way,” he said.
The primary election is set for May 17.