Greene County native Don Davis focuses on local issues as he runs for another term in Congress

Davis says he’s focused on improving the lives of local farmers and protecting veterans benefits, all while embracing “eastern North Carolina values.”

It was a pothole that first inspired Don Davis to step into the world of politics at age 29 and run for mayor of his hometown, Snow Hill, population 1,595, in eastern North Carolina.

When he was a kid, he and his friends were very familiar with it, because it was where they went when they wanted to have fun. 

Davis and his friends had a favorite hill where they’d go to “pop wheelies.” 

“We had to go around this pothole,” Davis said. “Now fast forward…the pothole was still there. I began to think, ‘how many people at one point in time, walked by that pothole, have ridden bicycles by that pothole,’ and it’s still there!”

He decided that it was time to do something about it.

“It’s like we have the ability as citizens and those who offer themselves to run for office in public service to really make a difference in the lives of communities. So I ran for mayor and got elected with 64% of the vote and guess what? We filled that pothole!”

“But I tell you, there’s so many potholes that are still out there that exist,” he said.

That’s why after serving as mayor of Snow Hill for seven years, then as a member of the state Senate for 12 years, Davis ran for a seat in Congress representing North Carolina’s 1st district in 2022. Davis won his race by just under five percentage points, and is now running for reelection.

In this campaign, Davis says that he is determined to work to improve the lives of eastern North Carolinians by fixing long-standing problems like that pothole. 

“This is my home,” he said. “I see my mission right now as giving back to the young people in particular that don’t see the ability to live the American dream here.”

“We have so many challenges here,” Davis went on. “Healthcare disparities are greatest in this part of the state. Educational disparities are the greatest here. Economic challenges. Even when North Carolina — we’ve been ranked as one of the best states to do business in — this part of the state is still different. People often feel forgotten and left out of the process.”

Davis’ focus on his community is rooted in his upbringing and the rich history of Snow Hill. It’s where his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother were raised. It’s where he went to school and where he earned money to help his family pay the bills by going to “crop tobacco.”

Years later, after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado and serving eight years of active duty in the Air Force, Davis felt he had learned lessons that he wanted to bring home.

During his time in the Air Force, he served as a coordinator of Air Force One and as a mortuary officer, a role that saw him engaged in the burial of over 500 members of the military. 

Davis described his time as a mortuary officer as a “humbling experience.”

“It was an honor to be able to put the last uniform on military members and talk to family members during the most trying times of their lives,” he said. “I remember talking to a mother and she traced my profile. She said I reminded her so much of her son.”

His service in the Air Force, he said, was a life changing experience, but it also provided a pathway for him to return to eastern North Carolina. He was able to come back as an assistant professor of aerospace studies in the ROTC department at East Carolina University and serve as an educator for over 20 years.

Now as the congressman campaigns for reelection, he is facing a tight race in what has been described as “the only competitive district in the state,” after the North Carolina Supreme Court gave Republicans in the state legislature the greenlight to draw new congressional maps last year. Those heavily gerrymandered maps effectively make three other seats currently held by North Carolina Democrats unwinnable for the party and leave Davis in a competitive race. 

Davis is facing off against Republican Laurie Buckhout, who was a Virginia resident until 2021, when she moved to North Carolina.

She now lives in the town of Edenton in Chowan County, where she purchased a $2.7 million home. Davis, his wife Yuvonka, a kindergarten teacher, and their three sons live in Greene County.

While Buckhout shares Davis’ background as a military veteran — she is a retired Army Colonel — that’s where the similarities end. 

She is a devoted Trump supporter and has received the endorsement of the ex-president. She’s campaigning on a platform of border security, protecting the Second Amendment, supporting the military, and is ardently opposed to abortion.

Davis, in contrast, supports women’s reproductive freedom and believes Congress should pass legislation to codify Roe v. Wade into law. He views women’s health care choices as private decisions that should be made between themselves and their doctors, not criminalized by politicians. He points out that North Carolina already has a high rate of infant and maternal mortality and the state’s 12-week abortion ban is impacting all of women’s reproductive health care.

Buckhout, on the other hand, proudly tweeted that “I am honored to receive the endorsement of SBA! As a wife, mother, and daughter I will work to protect the life of the unborn and plan to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves in DC.”

SBA — Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America — is an anti-abortion group that plans to spend almost $100 million to influence voters in the 2024 election. They also make donations to support candidates. Laurie Buckhout has received a campaign contribution of $10,000 from the Susan B. Anthony candidate PAC.

The other key issues Davis is fighting for reflect his longtime familiarity with the deep concerns and problems faced by his district’s many rural residents.

The congressman, who serves on the Agriculture, Energy and Environment committee in Congress, spoke in detail about the Farm Bill, which is still being negotiated in Congress.

“We have to help our farmers stay in business — they’re concerned about crop insurance, about marketing research so that they can actually get their products out further,” Davis said.

But they also need more support due to recent natural disasters and extreme weather, Davis said. He explained that farmers in his district endured a drought this summer and then had their crops flooded by Tropical Storm Debby in August. 

They went “from one extreme drought to the other extreme (flooding)…so tobacco farmers for instance, right now, many of them are estimating losing as much as 40% of the crop,” Davis said. “So corn, oh God, it’s been pounded so hard.”

The cost of labor is another huge issue for his district’s farmers, as is pricing for their crops. 

“They’re really squeezed,” he said.  

Davis said that as part of the Farm Bill negotiations, he’s fighting for an increase in the prices for key commodities grown in eastern North Carolina.

Buckhout, meanwhile, derides the US economy as “broken” on her website — despite experts calling it the strongest in the world today — and promises to fight to bring jobs back to the district.

Despite Buckhout’s attacks, Davis is making the case that he’s the best person to steward economic opportunities in the district, pointing to his record of both retaining and growing jobs and bringing investments in affordable housing to eastern North Carolina. 

He brought in $13 million for community projects earlier this year and has already submitted $79.8 million in requests for community projects in 2025. He also announced $15 million in federal housing investments to provide affordable housing to his district in May.

Davis also facilitated more than $300 million in grants to federal programs and projects throughout North Carolina, including for numerous infrastructure projects approved by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development program.

The congressman also successfully fought against a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes by the Biden administration because it would have been devastating for African-American farmers and eliminated thousands of jobs in the state, Davis said.

He also fought against an F-15E squadron being cut from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, which would have meant 520 jobs being eliminated in eastern North Carolina, something which Davis, a member of the House Committee on Armed Services,  called “unacceptable.”

Not only was his campaign to secure those jobs successful, he also voted for a bill that included 15% raises for junior enlisted service members and 4.5% raises for all other service members. The 1st congressional district is home to nearly 10,000 active duty military personnel and 56,000 veterans.

Davis said he’s heard “great concerns” from some of these veterans about Project 2025, a far-right plan for a second Trump term that would cut health care and disability benefits. 

“Our veterans are our heroes and we need to treat ‘em as heroes,” Davis said, pushing back on the idea of any cuts to benefits. 

While Davis has been subjected to recent criticism from Republicans who claim that he’s missed votes during his time in Congress, aside from the summer of 2023, when his grandmother passed away, he’s missed only 1% of votes, according to GovTrack.

His grandmother, Edna Earle Harper Dixon, raised him in Snow Hill while his mother was away at college and working for IBM in Durham and Raleigh.

“I’m thankful for every day that I was given with my grandmother. She was with me every step of the way in all of my campaigns from my days as mayor, to the (state) Senate and she lived to see me be elected to Congress,” Davis said. 

Davis credits her with teaching him “eastern North Carolina values.” 

“She always said, ‘look for the best in people, because everyone has some good,’” he said. 

Maybe that’s why Buckhout’s approach of attacking Davis for his supposedly “radical” agenda is of no interest to him: divisiveness is not his style. 

“I show up to Washington DC to do everything we can to get to common ground and policies that are going to work for the people of eastern North Carolina and beyond,” Davis said. “Not to throw bombshells at the other side or try to burn the house down.”