AP Calls Ojeda Winner Over NRCC Chair Hudson in N.C. 9th
The Associated Press called Democrat Richard Ojeda the winner over NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson in North Carolina's 9th District.
The Associated Press on Thursday called Democrat Richard Ojeda the winner in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District over Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Roll Call and NPR reported. NBC News had projected Ojeda the winner on Tuesday night.
NBC News results showed Ojeda with 138,707 votes, or 51.1%, to Hudson’s 132,692, or 48.9%, with 99% of expected votes counted and about 2,600 estimated ballots still outstanding. Roll Call said Ojeda was leading about 51% to 49% Thursday afternoon when the Associated Press made the call, and that Hudson had conceded Wednesday.
NRCC chair loses his seat
Hudson’s defeat makes him the second party campaign chief in two midterm cycles to lose reelection. In 2022, then-Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney lost while chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, NBC News and Roll Call reported. Hudson, 55, was finishing a seventh House term and a second term as NRCC chair, Roll Call reported. Republicans had held the 9th District since 1963, according to NBC News.
District and candidates
The district covers the Eastern Piedmont and the Fayetteville area, including Fort Bragg, where Ojeda, a retired Army major and former West Virginia state senator, was previously stationed, Roll Call reported. Ojeda moved to North Carolina in 2020 and challenged Hudson over his support for President Donald Trump’s agenda, particularly the war in Iran, Roll Call said. Trump carried the seat by 16 points in 2024, and Hudson won that year by nearly 19 points, according to Inside Elections figures cited by Roll Call. Through mid-October, Hudson raised $4.2 million to Ojeda’s $2.9 million, Roll Call reported, citing campaign finance totals.
Developing: North Carolina’s official NC-9 canvass continues while remaining ballots are counted; NBC News estimated about 2,600 votes still outstanding with 99% of expected ballots in.
Sources: Roll Call, NBC News, NBC News results, NPR, Associated Press
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