The Democratic candidates for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District faced off on Sunday, and it didn’t take long for them to address a topic likely to be a flashpoint in the race: Israel-Palestine.
This year’s campaign for the party nomination is a rematch of the 2022 race between Valerie Foushee, a former state representative from Chapel Hill, and Nida Allam, a Durham County commissioner. Foushee beat Allam for the nomination, 46 to 37 percent, despite widespread criticism of Foushee’s support for Israel and contributions she had received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israel groups. Foushee went on to win the general election in the heavily Democratic district and was easily reelected in 2024.
But this year, Allam is back for a second go.
The candidates met at a political forum hosted by the Durham NAACP at Mount Vernon Baptist Church on Sunday, January 11. They discussed immigration, gun violence, public education, economic disparity, and Medicare—all of which stirred little disagreement amongst the candidates. The defining issue was foreign military intervention — particularly Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In her 2022 campaign, Foushee was criticized for taking more than $2 million in bundled campaign donations from United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC, and in 2024 she took a trip to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu at the expense of an AIPAC affiliate.
Foushee has since become more critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and said Sunday that she has “voted on every opportunity for humanitarian aid to go to that region of the world.” (A campaign spokesperson said in August that she will not be taking any money from AIPAC in this election.)
At Sunday’s forum, Foushee made a larger point that the United States should not be spending money on conflicts in the Middle East and South America, except for humanitarian aid. She also emphasized the issue is not “just about Israel-Palestine.”
“If we’re going to talk about humanitarian efforts, let’s talk about it for everybody,” she said to an audience of majority Black residents who murmured in agreement. “Especially in countries where our people have been subject to the same kinds of stuff… for years.”
Allam, the first Muslim woman elected to public office in North Carolina, has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and criticized Foushee for her actions related to Israel-Palestine in an op-ed in INDYWeek.
At the forum, Allam responded to the same question on foreign military intervention:
“I, for one, do not approve my taxpayer dollars being used to fund a genocide,” she said, referring to U.S. support for Israel. “And I’m proud to say… that I have never accepted corporate PAC checks and right-wing super PAC money from institutions that want the United States to continue to fund genocide.”
Progressive politicians and organizations such as Bernie Sanders, Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, and Sunrise have endorsed Allam. However, Democrats such as Gov. Josh Stein and former Gov. Roy Cooper have backed Foushee.
The 4th District includes Durham, Orange and parts of Wake and Chatham counties. It is considered a safe Democratic seat, so the real battle will be the March 3 election to select the party’s nominee.
Photo at top: Nida Allam and Valerie Foushee at the NAACP candidate forum. Photo by Tanya Wan, The 9th Street Journal
