The Democratic primary in the Triangle’s 4th Congressional District could become a referendum on the party’s approach in Congress to battling the Trump administration.
Congresswoman Valerie Foushee is seeking her third term in the seat, but she’s facing a primary challenge from the Durham County commissioner she defeated four years ago.
While both candidates describe themselves as “progressive,” an upset victory for Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam would mean Democratic voters are shifting further to the left – preferring a younger, more outspoken leader to represent them in Washington D.C.
Much like Allam and Foushee’s previous face-off in the 2022 primary, the race is attracting spending from outside PACs and donors across the country seeking to shape the Democratic caucus in Congress.
The latest version of 4th District includes Durham and Orange counties, as well as portions of northern Chatham County (including Pittsboro) and southwestern Wake County (including Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina). The district tilts heavily to the left, so whoever wins the primary is virtually guaranteed to win in November.
The candidates
Valerie Foushee: Foushee, 69, is a longtime figure in Orange County politics, starting with a stint on the school board and the county’s board of commissioners. She served in the state House and Senate for a decade before being elected to Congress in 2022 after Congressman David Price retired. Foushee worked as an administrative officer for the Chapel Hill Police Department for much of her career. In Congress, she serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Nida Allam: Allam, 32, has served on the Durham County Commission since 2020 and is the first Muslim woman to hold elected office in North Carolina. She’d previously held a leadership role in the N.C. Democratic Party and worked as a staffer on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. She was motivated to get involved in politics after her friend, Yusor Abu-Salha, was one of three Muslims students killed in a racially motivated shooting in Chapel Hill in 2015.
Mary Patterson: The substitute teacher from Durham has not mounted a significant campaign in the race.
Key Policy Differences
Immigration: Allam argues that Foushee has not been forceful enough in opposing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in North Carolina, Minnesota and elsewhere. When ICE and Border Patrol agents came to the Triangle, Allam was among the protesters who filmed them and shouted at them.
Foushee says she’s sponsored and supported legislation to hold ICE accountable for what she calls a “profound abuse of power.” Allam wants to abolish ICE, while Foushee wants to defund the agency and push for major reforms to federal immigration enforcement.
The war in Gaza: Allam says Israel’s actions in Gaza should be considered a genocide, and she’s criticized Foushee for accepting contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC during her previous runs for Congress. Foushee has also faced criticism for taking an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel, and she announced last year she will no longer accept funding from the group. Last August, Foushee co-sponsored the “Block the Bombs Act” that would ban the sale of offensive weapons to Israel.
PAC Money: Allam says she declines to take campaign contributions from PACs representing pharmaceutical companies, military contractors and other corporate interests. Foushee’s campaign finance records show that about half of the $353,000 in campaign contributions she received last year came from PACs. They include PACs for Truist bank, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Norfolk Southern, Blue Origin, Walmart, the American Hospital Association and Meta. Foushee, however, says “my biggest donors are unions,” pointing to contributions from PACs like the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Allied Pilots Association.
Data centers: The massive data centers to power AI have become a controversy in the 4th District, and Allam is calling for a national moratorium on building new ones. Foushee has said she thinks the decisions are best left to local leaders in communities where data centers are proposed, and she opposes a planned facility near Apex.
Key factors in the race
Outside spending: Many of the ads that voters in the 4th District are seeing aren’t funded by the two candidates. And while the 2022 primary had major outside spending in support of Foushee, Allam appears to be the primary beneficiary so far this cycle.
A shadowy group called “American Priorities” reports spending about $500,000 on ads promoting Allam and attacking Foushee. Disclosure reports show the ads are focused on “big tech, big crypto, big pharma, AIPAC and grocery prices.” Records show the group formed in January using a “virtual office” address in Delaware. Its first disclosure report shows it’s raised about $2 million from seven out-of-state donors, including from $1 million from Omer Hasan, a California tech executive who was also among the biggest donors to a PAC supporting Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral campaign. Its website offers no details on its political agenda.
Midterm Elections 2026
- February 28: Early voting ends
- March 3: Primary Election Day
Voters this fall will federal, state, and local elections. Early voting for the primary is already underway. Here are some important dates:
- Find your early voting location
- How to register
- Find your sample ballot
Important links:
- Longtime sheriff Sam Page seeks to unseat Senate Republican leader Phil Berger in Rockingham County
- Preview of the Republican primary for Senate
- Nida Allam challenges incumbent Valerie Foushee in the Democratic primary for Congress
- Six downballot NC primaries worth watching
- Crowded Republican primary for northeast Congressional District 1 (publishing February 27)
Election previews
- 2026 Midterm Primary Election Special: NC races and candidates to watch, featuring public radio reporters across the state
- NC News Roundup: Primary early voting check-ins
- More than 70,000 NC voters need to 'fix' their voter registration. Are you on the list?
- State legislature's "power grab" pulls elections authority away from NC governor. Plus, columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom.
- Two longtime North Carolina political rivals (and friends) are 'Talking About Politics.' Plus, PlayMakers' 'Primary Trust.'
2026 Election coverage on Due South
Another Allam backer is Leaders We Deserve, a group led by gun control advocate David Hogg. It has spent more than $270,000 on pro-Allam advertising.
Foushee, meanwhile, is getting a $150,000 boost from Rolling Sea Action Fund. It has ties to the Congressional Black Caucus, and one of its biggest contributors last year was the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
And the Jobs and Democracy PAC reports spending about $280,000 on pro-Foushee ads. That group hasn't disclosed any donors yet, and the Federal Elections Commission recently reprimanded it for failing to file required 2025 disclosure reports. A website for the group says it's led by former Oklahoma Congressman Brad Carson and "fights to elect Democrats who will stand up to Big Tech companies trying to buy their way out of sensible AI regulation."
Big endorsements: Dozens of North Carolina elected Democrats have lined up to endorse Foushee, including Gov. Josh Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as the state’s other Democrats in Congress and the leaders of the Democratic caucuses in the legislature.
Allam has backing from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who joined her at an event in Durham. Other endorsements include the labor group AFL-CIO, College Democrats of America, her 2022 primary opponent and singer Clay Aiken, and Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham.
Shifting district lines: Thanks to redistricting, the 4th Congressional District looks a lot different than it did during the 2022 primary between Foushee and Allam. Gone are the four rural counties (Granville, Person, Alamance and Caswell) where Allam fared poorly. The current district lines include Durham County (which Allam won four years ago), Orange County and suburban areas of Chatham and southeastern Wake County. Overall, the district leans further to the left than it did in 2022.
Voter turnout: The lack of a hotly contested U.S. Senate primary on the Democratic side could result in lower turnout. Former Gov. Roy Cooper’s five opponents on the ballot are largely unknown, and his campaign has been focused more on the general election in November. That means the 4th Congressional District primary is the most prominent race for voters there.
