| Congressman Don Davis is the only candidate fighting for North Carolina’s rural communities.
Last week, Davis outlined his plan to “[put] Eastern North Carolina first,” focusing on lowering costs for family farms, supporting infrastructure for rural communities, and expanding access to rural health care. Davis’ priorities reflect his record of delivering real results for North Carolina’s farmers and rural communities.
Meanwhile, Laurie Buckhout has remained silent this week as North Carolina ranchers, food suppliers, and farm associations sound the alarm on Republicans’ reckless decision to import 300,000 tons of beef.
DCCC Spokesperson Madison Andrus:
“Congressman Don Davis is laser focused on the issues that matter most for Eastern North Carolinians like lowering costs and protecting rural communities. While Republicans continue attacking local farmers with Laurie Buckhout’s blessing, Davis is fighting back at every turn.”
Read more about Congressman Davis’ priorities:
Albemarle Observer: Davis Rallies Roper Crowd Around Rural Health Care, Affordability and Home-Grown Values
- Congressman Don Davis, D-District 1, brought his reelection campaign to Mount Eprew Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, delivering a message aimed squarely at the middle: a defense of rural hospitals, relief for working families, and an appeal to voters across the political spectrum to put Eastern North Carolina first.
- Davis, who faces Republican challenger Laurie Buckhout of Edenton in the Nov. 3 election, opened not with policy but with roots. “Truly, my name is Don Davis, made in Eastern North Carolina,” he told the crowd, describing his upbringing in Snow Hill under the care of his grandmother. “My grandmother had a vision, and her vision was for her children to go to school, and she felt that college was the key; it was the ticket.”
- He credited that grandmother with instilling the values he said still guide him in Washington — faith, education and hard work. “You get it up here. Nobody can take that away from you,” he recalled her telling him, adding another piece of advice that has stuck with him: “There is some good in everybody.” That biography, aides say, is central to Davis’ pitch to a district that includes both reliably Democratic precincts and areas that have trended Republican in recent presidential elections.
- Davis spoke directly to the region’s agricultural community, many of whom he said are wrestling with how to keep family farms afloat amid rising costs. “Someone’s trying to figure out how to keep the family farm going. Stand with me on this,” he said, recalling how the school calendar itself once bent to the harvest: “If the crops weren’t done, school didn’t start.”
- He tied that background to affordability more broadly, describing a recent gas station visit that cost more than expected and empathizing with residents stretching every dollar. “They’re putting that two dollars in to get the kids to practice,” Davis said. “They’re putting that two dollars in to make it to the grocery store… just trying to make it.” He framed support for farmers, rural health care and infrastructure as part of the same fight, repeating a line he returned to throughout the afternoon: “This is about putting Eastern North Carolina first.”
- The congressman called rural health care “the center question in this election.” He pointed to the reopening of Martin General Hospital, closed for three years, as a model for the region. “Martin General will be the first fully closed hospital that’s been reopened as a rural emergency hospital in the entire nation,” Davis said, crediting residents who packed county commission meetings to save it. “It was the people that spoke up,” he said. “How the hospital saved their lives, how the hospital saved somebody in their family’s life.”
- Davis also cited federal money he said his office helped direct to Washington Regional’s emergency department. “That million dollars for Washington Regional that we took — that was for the emergency department,” he said. “We’re just trying to help save somebody’s life, for crying out loud.”
- He criticized federal budget legislation he called “HR one,” saying it pulled more than a trillion dollars from health care programs over a decade, and noted the opposition wasn’t limited to Democrats. “Even Tom Tillis voted against HR one because of these concerns,” Davis said. “It was bipartisan opposition to these cuts to rural health care.”
- Davis highlighted federal funding he said was flowing into rural communities under his watch. “A little over $700,000 for Roper, a little over $300,000 coming in for Plymouth,” he said, adding that the emergency department had together received more than $2 million, with roughly $800,000 more in the pipeline. “We’re trying to ease the pressures on property taxes. That’s why we’re doing this, and it’s helping people,” he said.
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