By Miles Layton

EDENTON — Congressman Don Davis, D-District 1, is pushing back hard against Republican challenger Laurie Buckhout’s attacks on his voting record, calling her claims misleading and warning that her approach to politics is exactly what voters are tired of seeing in Washington.

In an interview with the Albemarle Observer on Susan Inglis’ front lawn at Homestead in Edenton, Davis defended his record on federal funding, healthcare, and rural economic development as he seeks reelection in what is shaping up to be a closely watched congressional race.

Davis responded to Buckhout’s attacks that she made at Republican fundraiser held in Washington County. To read more about what Buckhout said, click here.

Story’s photo of my interview with Davis comes from Hal Murray — thanks!

Subscribe — it’s free!

Funding Fight

At the center of the dispute is nearly $54 million Davis secured for eastern North Carolina through Fiscal Year 2026 Community Project Funding — money directed toward infrastructure, public safety, and community development across the region. Buckhout’s campaign has suggested Davis deserves no credit for those dollars, pointing to his vote against HR 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the sweeping Republican tax and spending package backed by President Donald Trump.

Davis said that characterization gets the facts exactly backward.

“The Buckhout campaign seems to just totally lose the merits of the truth,” he said. “I voted for legislation, and not only did I vote for the legislation, it’s these projects that I worked to put into the bills that I voted for. I voted for every cent of these projects.”

He said the nearly $54 million in community project funding — supporting police departments, sheriff’s offices, water infrastructure, and other priorities — has nothing to do with HR 1.

“Either she’s confused about the budgetary process and how it works in D.C., or she’s not being truthful about it,” Davis said. “Either she’s confused about how Washington works, or she’s intentionally trying to mislead families across Eastern North Carolina. It’s one of the two.”

Davis acknowledged he did vote against HR 1, and said he stands by that decision — but drew a sharp distinction between that bill and the community project funding Buckhout has been criticizing.

“She’s trying to convince people that all these projects are tied to HR 1,” he said. “And that’s just absurd.”

He added that questions about Buckhout’s accuracy are not new. 

“I understand there were concerns even in a Republican primary about her being truthful about issues,” Davis said. “And I would ask and invite the public to look at my record. My record stands for it.”

Healthcare at the Heart of It

Davis’s opposition to HR 1 centers largely on what he says the bill would do to healthcare in rural America — a concern that hits close to home in a district that includes Martin County, where Martin General Hospital closed abruptly in 2023, leaving residents without a local inpatient facility.

The closure stunned the community. Employees learned of the shutdown without warning, and patients were wheeled out on stretchers and transported elsewhere to complete their care. Local elected leaders said the company operating the county-owned hospital, Quorum Health, never notified them it planned to shut down and file for bankruptcy. The closure has since cost county taxpayers an estimated $2.9 million in maintenance, utilities, and upkeep costs, as officials have worked to keep the building viable in hopes of resuming operations.

Davis warned that cutting Medicaid funding through HR 1 would compound crises like the one in Martin County.

“You are pulling a trillion dollars out of Medicaid,” he said. “About four in ten people across Eastern North Carolina are on Medicaid. You are seeing now, because we didn’t address the ACA subsidies, premiums that are doubling. These are small business owners, people who are trying to keep the economy going. And now you have people — so many have reached out to me — and they don’t know if they’re going to be able to keep their health insurance.”

He said the strain on families is compounding.

“We know people are not able to afford health insurance on top of gas, on top of childcare and groceries,” Davis said.

On Martin General specifically, he was blunt about the limits of what redirecting patients can accomplish. “You can’t just send people when a hospital closes. You can’t send them to Greenville. They’re backed up. That’s just not the solution.”

Davis said he is working to reopen Martin General as a rural emergency hospital, a plan that has taken shape through a letter of intent signed by ECU Health last year. Under that agreement, Martin County would pay to refurbish the hospital, while the North Carolina General Assembly would need to provide ECU Health $210 million — $150 million of which would fund a new inpatient tower at ECU’s Beaufort Hospital. Davis has also introduced legislation to increase Medicaid reimbursements for rural hospitals, though it has not yet advanced in Congress.

Republicans have pointed to a $50 billion rural health fund included in HR 1 as a lifeline for communities like Martin County. But that money cannot be used to reopen Martin General — because the hospital is not currently operating, and federal rules restrict how much of the fund can be spent on construction and building renovations. North Carolina is distributing its first-year share of $213 million among existing health and social service organizations. 

Davis, who signed a letter from lawmakers supporting North Carolina’s rural health fund application, acknowledged the money’s limitations, saying it is “essentially putting a band-aid on a much, much broader situation that needs dire help.”

Building a Coalition

Davis framed the race not as a partisan battle but as a fight for the priorities of eastern North Carolina, a region he said has too often been excluded from decisions made in Washington.

“We have independents, Republicans, Democrats. We’re building a coalition of people who want to see us prioritize Eastern North Carolina because so often people feel that we’ve been left out of the process,” he said. “These issues are not partisan, and I don’t believe they should be made partisan.”

He said voters are exhausted by the style of politics Buckhout is running.

“People are sick and tired of this,” Davis said. “That’s what people are telling me. People are fed up with this stuff — just attacking, all this division, political division.”

Beyond healthcare, Davis highlighted Social Security solvency, tax relief for workers, support for farmers, and expanding opportunity for young people as central to his campaign.

“The long-term solvency of Social Security — these are the issues that I believe are so important for the families of Eastern North Carolina,” he said. “Farmers are being hit under the chin. Young people — we’re going to keep the American dream within reach for them, so they don’t feel they have to rush to leave Eastern North Carolina.”

He closed with a direct appeal to voters across the political spectrum.

“There’s only one thing that I think this should be about, and one thing only. That’s the families of Eastern North Carolina,” Davis said. “I invite anyone who cares about the future of Eastern North Carolina to come be a part of this campaign.”