Republican Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has lost what was widely viewed as a safe seat in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.
Hudson, a senior GOP figure who had served in Congress for 14 years, conceded to Democrat Richard Ojeda, a retired Army major and former state senator who completed 24 years of military service and previously ran for president.
As head of the NRCC, Hudson helped lead the House Republicans’ campaign operation as it raised more than $260 million for races nationwide. His own campaign spent roughly $2 million.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, Ojeda had received 138,707 votes compared with Hudson’s 132,692.
The result stunned Republican leaders and campaign operatives, who had expected Hudson to comfortably hold the district.
“No freaking way!” one Republican source told the Daily Mail.
A strong showing by former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper helped fuel a broader Democratic surge in a state Donald Trump had won three times.
Two other Republican incumbents from North Carolina, Virginia Foxx and Greg Murphy, were still awaiting final results in their respective contests.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention
Donald Trump reviews documents at his desk as Hudson, at far left, looks on
Murphy held a lead of fewer than 250 votes, while Foxx trailed by 99 votes as of Wednesday afternoon.
Cooper, the first Democrat to win a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat since 2008, centered his campaign on the slogan: “Make stuff cost less.”
The message resonated with voters in North Carolina and nationwide, with exit polls showing widespread concern over the economy and the rising cost of living.
Cooper took the stage at his Raleigh watch party shortly after the race was called Tuesday, as an energized crowd repeatedly chanted, “Cooper! Cooper! Cooper!”
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“Tonight,” Cooper said, “we told Washington loud and clear that North Carolinians will always matter more than the billionaires and the insiders.”
“I am still a prisoner of hope,” Cooper added, saying the results showed that voters were ready for a change in direction.
Democratic strategist Mally Smith, who served as a senior political and coalitions adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign in North Carolina, described the Democratic sweep as “incredible” in comments to the Daily Mail.
“Democrats having full control of state government, picking up House seats, and winning the Senate is beyond most NC Democrats’ wildest dreams,” he said, calling the outcome “a seismic election for the state.”
Democrat Jamie Ager also captured North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in the Appalachian region, flipping the seat from Republican control.
It marked the first House pickup of Election Night.
A Daily Mail review of Ager’s family history published this fall found that his grandparents were first cousins.
North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District has been marked by political turmoil.
The district was represented by Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, who abandoned his reelection campaign in August after reports emerged that he had given lavish gifts—including towers of ice cream and firearms—to young female staffers and had written poems for them.
Following a recommendation from the House Ethics Committee, Edwards was formally censured by fellow members of Congress.
Edwards disputed the findings, maintaining that the gifts and other gestures were innocent expressions of “friendship.”
He remained in office because he faced no legal charges. Edwards apologized to his wife for his conduct and denied that he had intended anything inappropriate.
After Edwards withdrew from the race, Republican officials selected State Representative Jennifer Balkcom to replace him on the November ballot.