In the accelerated campaign in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, challenger Nida Allam raised more than twice as much money as Rep. Valerie Foushee in the last quarter, a sign that the Durham commissioner has some momentum in her race to unseat the two-term incumbent.
Foushee raised only $131,865 while Allam received $334,740. The campaign between the two Democrats is short and intense because the winner of the March 3 primary is likely to prevail in the November general election.
For the full year, the two candidates have accumulated nearly the same total amounts—Foushee at $361,919 and Allam at $334,740—but the stark difference in fundraising in the most recent quarter left Allam with $112,170 more cash on hand than her opponent.
“It certainly could mean that Nida Allam could be competitive,” said Pope “Mac” McCorkle, a former Democratic consultant and current professor at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. “The bigger question probably is, are either these amounts sufficient to get on TV or to do a very extensive social media campaign or door knocking—voter contact, one way or the other?”
When Foushee beat Allam for the nomination in 2022, Foushee was criticized for taking more than $2 million in bundled campaign donations from United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC. In August, Foushee’s campaign said that she will not take any money from AIPAC in the upcoming election.
McCorkle said Foushee still has a name recognition advantage from her two terms in the seat.
“By the numbers, it’s good for Allam that she is not getting way outspent, but… has she raised enough to get above water?” McCorkle said. “She ran before and she’ll probably have some name recognition and People’s Alliance support in Durham. But all things being equal, what’s changed [since 2022]? And what would change it would be a really big media message—and it would probably need to be against Foushee.”
The latest numbers do not reflect independent groups, which could help either candidate with a TV blitz of attack ads.
Paige Stevens
