North Carolina
North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam
Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.
In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.
Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.
Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.
Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.
On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.
“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”
She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.
Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.
Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.
Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.
However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.
A blast of storms came through central North Carolina on Thursday, causing problems for homeowners, drivers and power companies.
The central part of the state saw a wide spectrum of weather in the span of a few hours, coming one day after Raleigh-Durham International Airport logged record-breaking 89-degree temperatures. On Thursday morning, many places saw temperatures in the 70s, but that changed quickly.
The worst of the rain came in the late-morning/early-afternoon hours with straight-line winds blowing in excess of 30 mph as a cold front moved through and put an end to an extended warm stretch. A 52 mph gust was recorded in Goldsboro.
Around 2 p.m., pockets of east Raleigh, Garner and Holly Springs all had hundreds of power outages.
A Pikeville resident sent a photo of a tree that had split in a yard. In Four Oaks, a person shared a photo of an overturned RV.
On the roads, one lane of Interstate 40 was closed near Harrison Avenue because of a fallen tree. Part of NC 55 was closed in Holly Springs near Dickens Road because of downed power lines and trees. WRAL News also received reports of a downed tree blocking N.C. Highway 242 in Sampson County. between Salemburg and Roseboro.
Near Erwin, a viewer sent a photo of a tree upside down and entangled in power lines.
The National Weather Service confirmed there were no tornadoes in central North Carolina on Thursday.
Interestingly enough, Roxboro saw snow flurries in the early afternoon due to a dramatic dip in temperatures from the morning. Impacts from the snow were expected to be minimal.
“It’s the cold air catching up with the moisture,” said WRAL meteorologist Kat Campbell. “You don’t have to worry about any of the sticking or leading toward any kinds of impacts.”
Temperatures were expected to fall into the 40s throughout the area on Thursday afternoon. As the winds subside, we’ll see temperatures in the 30s on Friday morning with possible frost.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, N.C. — A man has been arrested after a months-long investigation into a series of intentionally set fires near the North Carolina-Georgia state line, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office says.
On March 10th investigators with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Murphy Police Department, the North Carolina Forest Service, and the Georgia Forest Service arrested 48-year-old Kevin James Roper of Blairsville, Georgia.
Roper is suspected of setting multiple fires in wooded and brush areas near the state line. Roper has been charged with 10 counts of intentionally setting fire to grass, brushlands and woodlands.
The investigation began in late December 2025 after several suspicious fires were reported along Tate Road, an area that straddles the state line between Cherokee County, North Carolina, and Union County, Georgia.
Because of the location of the incidents and the nature of the fires, the North Carolina Forest Service and Georgia Forest Service initiated a joint investigation.
Additional fires were reported in February 2026 in the Martins Creek Community.
On February 22nd, deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office responded to one of the fires as part of the ongoing investigation.
On March 10th, the North Carolina Forest Service and the Georgia Forest Service requested assistance from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and Murphy Police Department in taking Roper into custody.
Investigators with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office made contact with Roper, who was taken into custody and transported to the Cherokee County Detention Center.
Roper was released after posting a $25,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in Cherokee County District Court on April 7th.
A girl who was kidnapped from Duarte in 2020 when she was just 5 years old has been found safe in North Carolina.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said it found Karen Rojas, who is now 11, on Tuesday. She was enrolled in school under an alias, according to investigators.
Authorities said she was kidnapped on June 2, 2020.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services notified Washington County law enforcement that she may be in the state.
They coordinated with several agencies, located the girl and took her into protective custody.
“These are very rare occurrences to have such a positive outcome on such an old case as this, but it reminds us that through hard work, and dedication, and cooperation, stories with positive outcomes like these can happen,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.
Due to the age of the child, further information was not immediately available.
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