NC-01 primary results: Don Davis secures Democratic nod; GOP voters pick Sandy Smith

Democrat Don Davis will face Republican Sandy Smith in the race to replace retiring North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield following a pitched primary battle for the 1st Congressional District.

The district that encompasses the northeastern part of the state is still ranked as competitive, according to the Cook Political Report, although it leans Democratic. Republicans are hoping to turn the consistently Democratic stronghold red for the first time in more than a century following demographic shifts and a redistricting cycle that stretched its political boundaries further east. Once a majority-minority district, voters there are now majority white, the News & Observer reported.

Davis claimed victory early in the evening after leading fellow front-runner Erica Smith in the tally as soon as polls closed. Although the more crowded Republican primary was much closer, Republican Sandy Smith led primary opponent Sandy Roberson by nearly 2,000 votes, a wide enough margin to dodge a runoff.

Who won the Democratic primary?

With all of the district’s precincts reporting Tuesday night, Don Davis led Erica Smith by a 2-to-1 margin according to the unofficial tally.

Claiming victory on Twitter, Davis called the primary win an emotional one.

“I am so thankful that so many of you resonated with my story, and perhaps saw your own experiences in mine,” he tweeted Tuesday night. “If we continue to show up, to be involved and get out the vote like we did today, I know we will win in November.”

Erica Smith also took to Twitter to announce her concession, noting that she called Davis to congratulate him on securing the nomination.

“These results are deeply disappointing but I still believe that ultimately our movement will prove more powerful than the dark money that opposes us,” she wrote.

The Associated Press called the race for Davis around 9:20 p.m.

Throughout the Democratic primary campaign, both candidates cited their experience as state senators representing neighboring districts in the eastern part of the state.

In April, Butterfield threw his endorsement behind Davis, a former Air Force officer and Snow Hill mayor currently serving his sixth term in the N.C. General Assembly.

Erica Smith, meanwhile, has secured more progressive endorsements from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who backed the candidate in April. A former engineer and teacher, Smith served three terms in the state senate and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for 2020 U.S. Senate. She began the 2022 race vying again for the U.S. Senate primary, but switched to a congressional run following Butterfield’s decision not to seek re-election.

The Democratic primary race has been particularly impacted by national politics and out-of-state spending.

The United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the Washington-based pro-Israel AIPAC, has so far poured more than $2.4 million on ads and marketing backing Davis. That’s significantly more than the two candidates have managed to raise on their own — combined, they’ve only tallied $1.4 million through late April, according to Federal Election Commission data.

The leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court opinion that may soon overturn Roe v. Wade, meanwhile, prompted Erica Smith to question Davis’ support for abortion rights based on several of his votes as a state senator.

The N&O reported that Davis voiced his backing of a congressional effort to enshrine Roe v. Wade into law shortly after news of the leaked opinion broke.

Who won the Republican primary?

In the eight-way race for the Republican ticket, Sandy Smith still edged out opponent Sandy Roberson by about 2,000 votes Tuesday night, with all of the district’s precincts reporting. With more than 31% of the GOP vote, according to unofficial results, Smith consistently ran ahead of Roberson by 4 to 5 points throughout the night as the tally mounted.

Smith claimed victory in the primary late Tuesday evening, thanking supporters on Twitter.

“Nearly $2 million in smear ads against us and we still came out on top. No run-off. I will fight for border security, jobs, cutting the gas tax and fixing our broken Biden economy,” she tweeted.

The AP called the Republican primary for Smith at about 11:40 p.m.

Smith has far out-raised her competition on both sides of the aisle in the primary race, pulling in more than $1.3 million through the end of April, according to data from the FEC. About $440,000 of that total she loaned to her campaign directly.

A far-right campaigner who has backed former President Donald Trump’s stolen election lie and bragged about attending the rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt on the U.S. Capitol, Smith has touted the endorsements of Roger Stone and other close Trump associates.

She was also the target of an attack ad funded by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC supporting more moderate conservatives, the N&O reported in a recent fact check of the ad’s claims.

In 2020, Smith swept the field in the Republican primary for the 1st Congressional District, earning 77% of the vote. But she lost to Butterfield by about 8 points in the general election.

She blamed that loss on voting machine fraud linked to the use of Dominion voting machines, the N&O reported. North Carolina does not use Dominion voting machines.

Opponent Sandy Roberson, elected mayor of Rocky Mount in 2019, has been endorsed by N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. A managing partner at HealthView Capital Partners, he loaned his campaign $1 million through late April, FEC data shows.