Rep. Valerie Foushee defeated progressive challenger Nida Allam in a high-profile Democratic primary in North Carolina, NBC News projects, after national figures and groups on the left targeted the district for a statement-making campaign.
"Though these were not the results we hoped for, I am proud of the movement we have built, the voices we have lifted up, and the journey we have ahead," Allam said Wednesday in a concession statement on X. NBC News projected the result on Friday.
Thanking staff members and supporters, Allam added: "While we may not have won the race, the establishment should stay on watch. Our movement sounded the alarm for future Democratic primaries throughout this cycle."
Foushee took 49.2% of the Democratic vote to 48.2% for Allam.
Allam, a Durham Board of County Commissioners member who criticized Foushee as too supportive of Israel and business interests, ran against Foushee for the first time in 2022, when the seat was open, and Foushee won a crowded primary by 9 percentage points. This time, a broad coalition of progressive groups and lawmakers demanding both strategic and generational change in the Democratic Party converged in support of Allam.
North Carolina’s deep-blue 4th District, in the state’s Research Triangle, is deeply Democratic and not considered competitive in the general election.
Foushee, 69, had support from major Democratic leaders in North Carolina, including Gov. Josh Stein, former Gov. Roy Cooper and Reps. Deborah Ross, Alma Adams and Don Davis.
Allam, 32, was backed by Justice Democrats, Leaders We Deserve, the Working Families Party and the Sunrise Movement. She also touted the early endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
The race drew over $3 million in ad spending, mostly from outside groups backing each candidate.
Leaders We Deserve, Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party spent a combined $790,000 backing Allam, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Foushee, meanwhile, was backed with major spending from Jobs and Democracy PAC, a group funded by the AI company Anthropic, which is locked in a rolling battle with other forces in the AI industry about how it should be regulated. Anthropic leans toward more regulation than some of its corporate competitors.
The issues of regulating AI and, more specifically, the data centers AI companies hope to build emerged as a central issue in the primary campaign.
Foushee has called on Congress to enact federal standards that would regulate the impact of data centers on local environments and infrastructure. Allam has backed a proposal from Sanders, who called for a national moratorium on data centers.
In her concession statement, Allam charged, “The AI lobby just bought its first seat in Congress.”
Another major issue that prompted outside spending was Foushee’s past support of Israel and the fact that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, backed her in past elections.
Foushee met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024 and was boosted by more than $2 million in ad spending from AIPAC-affiliated groups in 2022. This year, she pledged not to accept the group’s support and criticized Netanyahu’s conduct in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Still, Allam has continued to attack Foushee’s positions and to link her to a pro-Israel agenda.
Allam was also boosted by American Priorities PAC, a group dedicated to countering AIPAC’s influence on elections. American Priorities spent almost $1 million on ads backing her.
