Ojeda takes NC 9th, ending Hudson's eight-term reign

Richard Ojeda defeated incumbent Richard Hudson by 6,015 votes in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District. With all 169 precincts counted early Wednesday morning, Ojeda tallied 138,707 votes against Hudson's 132,692. The result flips a seat that stretches from Cumberland County in the south to Guilford County in the north.

Hudson served as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans. He had held the district for seven previous terms. In 2024, he won the race by nearly 20 percentage points. In the final days of this cycle, Hudson began purchasing television advertisements, a move that signaled a tight contest.

Ojeda is a retired U.S. Army major who previously served in the West Virginia State Senate. He sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2020 but did not win. He ran on a platform focused on veterans and fiscal responsibility. "I lost a lot of friends in a war sold on a lie, and I’m going to Congress to make sure nobody’s kid gets sent to another one," Ojeda said in a statement.

The candidate also pledged to fight for lower drug prices and to protect Social Security and the VA. He said he would work to get corporate money out of politics. "This district gave a kid from the West Virginia coal fields a chance, and I will never forget it," he added.

Amy Dorra, Ojeda's campaign manager, noted that many analysts viewed the seat as solidly Republican. "Nobody in Washington thought this seat was in play. Our volunteers never bought that for a second," Dorra said. The victory marks a shift in the district's alignment for the next two years.

All results remain unofficial until the statewide canvass is completed on Friday, Nov. 13. The district has historically leaned Republican, making the margin of victory a notable statistical shift. Hudson, the party's top congressional fundraiser, now faces a new challenger in the next cycle.