NC’s Sen. Ted Budd sworn into office, as House members wait to elect new speaker

Ted Budd walked to the front of the Senate chamber Tuesday, Bible in his left hand, raised his right and took the oath of office administered by Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I do solemnly swear,” Harris read, “that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

As Budd confirmed, North Carolina’s other senator, Thom Tillis, was behind him and patted him on the back. Budd turned and shook Tillis’ hand.

Budd’s predecessor, former Sen. Richard Burr, also stood behind him in support.

Together Tillis and Burr watched as Budd walked up to sign his oath in a book and received a pin he will wear to note that he’s a member of the Senate.

He then walked to the back of the chamber and received handshakes and fist-pounds from other members on his way.

A ceremonial swearing in was set for later Tuesday afternoon in the old Senate Chamber where Budd’s family will be allowed to stand beside him.

Tuesday marked the first day of the 118th Congress. Across the Capitol building, five more members of the North Carolina congressional delegation will also be sworn in for the first time. The House must first vote on its speaker before its members can be sworn into office.

The NC delegation

On Tuesday, North Carolina’s representatives in Congress look very different from this time two years earlier.

Two Republicans — Budd and Tillis — represent North Carolina in the Senate while an evenly split seven Republicans and seven Democrats represent the state in the House. Democrats picked up two seats and Republicans lost one from what was an 8-5 split in the 117th Congress.

North Carolina elected freshman Reps. Don Davis, Valerie Foushee, Chuck Edwards, Wiley Nickel and Jeff Jackson to join returning Reps. Deborah Ross, Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, Dan Bishop, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry, Alma Adams and Kathy Manning in the House.

Ted Budd

Budd, 51, a Republican from Davie County, had served in the House since 2017, representing a portion of the Triad. He was a member of the ultra-right Freedom Caucus and has been rated as 90% more conservative than his peers, a stark contrast to Burr who tended to be closer to the center.

Budd has had financial support from Republican super-PAC Club for Growth throughout his political career and trounced his competition in last year’s GOP primary election for Senate after receiving an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. He went on to defeat Cheri Beasley in the general election.

Budd owns a gun store and shooting range in Rural Hall. He lives in Davie County with his wife Amy Kate and together they have three children.

Don Davis

Davis, 51, a Democrat from Snow Hill, replaces retiring Rep. G.K. Butterfield in the 1st Congressional District. The district is made up of 18 counties in the state’s northeast and a portion of Pitt County.

Davis is an Air Force veteran who taught aerospace studies at East Carolina University.

He is no stranger to politics. Davis is the youngest person, at 29, to serve as mayor of Snow Hill, chaired the district’s Democratic Party and served six terms in the state Senate before being elected to Congress.

He lives with his wife in Greene County. Together they have three sons.

Valerie Foushee

Foushee, 66, a Democrat from Hillsborough, replaces retiring Rep. David Price. She represents North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District that includes Orange, Alamance, Durham, Granville and Person counties and a sliver of Caswell County.

When Foushee first announced her run for Congress she said she wanted to help working families, bolster criminal justice reform, tackle systemic racism, help protect the environment and address climate change.

Foushee spent 21 years working as an administrator at the Chapel Hill Police Department.

Foushee grew up in segregated schools until the sixth grade and said she was inspired to run for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board to help Black and brown students at her children’s schools. Foushee then became the first African American woman to serve on the Orange County Board of Commissioners. She was elected to the state House in 2012 and within a year was appointed to fill a vacancy in the state Senate, where she served another four terms before being elected to Congress.

Foushee lives with her husband, Stan. Together they have two sons and a grandson.

Chuck Edwards

Edwards, 62, a Republican from Flat Rock, replaced controversial Rep. Madison Cawthorn on Tuesday. Cawthorn, the youngest member of the 117th Congress, lost his reelection bid to Edwards in the Republican primary after a deluge of controversies in the weeks prior to the election.

Edwards now represents the 14 counties that make up the far western portion of North Carolina, and a portion of Rutherford County. Collectively, this area of the state is known as North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Edwards owns several McDonald’s franchises in Western North Carolina and served more than three terms in the state Senate after being appointed to finish out the term of Sen. Tom Apodaca in 2016.

Edwards lives with his wife Teresa. Together they had two children and a granddaughter. Their son died unexpectedly in 2018.

Wiley Nickel

Nickel, 47, a Democrat from Cary, represents the 13th Congressional District, which includes Johnston County and portions of Harnett, Wake and Wayne counties.

Previously, Budd represented the 13th Congressional District, though under North Carolina’s old maps, that district was located in the Triad. North Carolina’s state legislators redrew the congressional districts following the release of census data that gave the state a 14th Congressional District due to population growth. In doing so, lawmakers moved the 13th district and effectively created a district without an incumbent.

Nickel works as a criminal defense attorney, and had served as a member of the state Senate since 2018.

He previously worked on the advance staffs for former Vice President Al Gore and former President Barack Obama. Advance staffs serve politicians similar to how roadies work for bands.

Nickel lives in Cary with his wife and two children.

Jeff Jackson

Jackson, 40, a Democrat from Charlotte, became North Carolina’s youngest member of Congress on Tuesday. He is the first to represent the state’s new 14th Congressional District, which includes part of Mecklenburg and part of Gaston counties.

Jackson works as an attorney, served in the Army reserves and in the Afghanistan war and currently works as a JAG officer in the Army National Guard.

Since 2014, Jackson had served in the state Senate.

He planned to run for Senate against Budd but stepped down before the primary and instead ran for House.

Jackson lives with his wife and three children in Charlotte.

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