SNOW HILL – Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis is projected to win a third term representing North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District after Republican challenger Laurie Buckhout conceded their rematch.
Decision Desk HQ recorded its call for Davis at 12:16 a.m. Wednesday. Its race page continued to show additional returns arriving early Wednesday, so the projection should not be confused with a final certified vote tally.
WLOS reported that Buckhout called Davis to congratulate him Tuesday night and acknowledged the voters’ decision. Her concession came before Decision Desk HQ’s recorded call. The two developments provide separate accounts of the contest’s outcome.
The ballot also included Libertarian Tom Bailey. Davis and Buckhout had faced each other in 2024, and the 2026 election took place under congressional boundaries approved by Republican lawmakers in 2025, according to WLOS.
The result keeps the eastern North Carolina seat with its Democratic incumbent. It does not, on its own, establish which party will control the U.S. House; that depends on the results of contests elsewhere as well.
Davis entered the race while serving his second term in Congress. His official House biography identifies Snow Hill as his hometown and describes earlier service as the town’s mayor and as a member of the North Carolina Senate.
His congressional work has included assignments involving agriculture and the military. The official biography lists him as the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development and vice ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
During the campaign, Davis emphasized rural health care, agriculture, jobs and military communities, WLOS reported. Buckhout’s campaign emphasized affordability, border security and national defense. The election result does not establish that any one issue determined voters’ choices.
This account reports the projected winner without assigning a final margin. The concession, the independent race call and the continuing unofficial count are distinct stages, rather than a declaration that every eligible ballot has been included.
Sources
- Decision Desk HQ: Original NC-1 race call
- WLOS: Concession and campaign context
- U.S. House: Davis biography and assignments
Photo Credit: Official file portrait of U.S. Rep. Don Davis by Ike Hayman/House Creative Services, via Wikimedia Commons and the congressman’s official House biography. Public-domain U.S. Congress photograph. Cropped and resized; not an election-night photograph. NCPN logo is a separate brand mark.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.