RALEIGH — Congressman Richard Hudson sees several serious economic and security issues for both the nation and the constituents in his district as they head to the ballot box this November.
“I know a lot of people out there are frustrated with the direction of the country, but they should know that they’ve got a congressman who’s working hard for them and better days are coming,” Hudson, North Carolina’s 9th District U.S representative, told North State Journal in an interview about his upcoming reelection prospects.
Hudson has concerns about what is happening in the country, but not among them are his two opponents this fall: unaffiliated candidate Shelane Etchison and Democrat Nigel Bristow.
“I’ve always believed if I do a good job representing the people then the election will take care of itself. And so I’m just focusing on continuing to do my job,” Hudson said. “We’ll communicate with the voters in the fall, but they’ll reelect me or not based on my record.”
Redistricting in the past year changed Hudson’s 8th Congressional District designation to the state’s 9th District. Hudson was first elected to Congress in 2012.
“I would just say that it’s been an honor to serve as a congressman for the communities I represent,” Hudson said. “And I work very hard to be accessible and to represent the needs of the people of my district.”
Hudson said he’s combined “a very conservative voting record” with the ability to work across the aisle to get things done, making him the “most effective lawmaker” from North Carolina based on bills he’s been able to pass.
Hudson, 52, said his most important issue is “taking care of the men and women at Fort Liberty and their families,” which includes addressing housing shortages on the base.
“We’ve also been able to secure pay increases in Fiscal Year ’24 and Fiscal Year ’25,” Hudson said. “For this year, it’s a 19% pay raise. It’s higher for our lower enlisted, and so I’m proud of that.”
Hudson said securing $16 billion in the last appropriation cycle for VA mental health programs shows his commitment to veterans, and military base and infrastructure security are also priorities.
He also addressed increased reports of foreign nationals trying to infiltrate U.S. military installations with colleagues from California and Texas in a June letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Hudson added that the grid attack in Moore County two years ago “really woke a lot of people up to how vulnerable our grid is” and said he’s working on several pieces of legislation to focus the federal government on security and funding modernization of the grid.
“I’ve got a bill that just passed the Senate — it’s already passed the House — called Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act, which reduces red tape for getting U.S. companies able to build advanced nuclear reactors,” said Hudson. “I think that’s kind of the future of grid security is having these small modular nuclear reactors which are much smaller than traditional reactors.”
Hudson said the fuel for the reactors “is not dangerous,” and would allow the U.S. to have microgrids that decrease the vulnerability of a mass outage. He added that former President Donald Trump’s energy secretary came to Fort Liberty to explore the idea of advanced nuclear reactors in that area.
He said the biggest issues facing the nation and the people of his district are high prices and inflation, which he said are a “direct result of President Joe Biden’s policies.”
“It’s out of control spending by the federal government, but it’s also his energy policy,” said Hudson. “He has stopped the production of American sources of energy; stopped us exporting natural gas. He has driven up the price of energy, which is one of the main drivers of inflation.”
He said he thinks the other thing on everybody’s mind is the border.
“You know, Joe Biden took 64 specific executive actions when he became president that opened our border, and the flow has just been a horrific amount,” said Hudson. “And the result has been a spike in crime, spike in fentanyl deaths, and basically every community in America has become a border community because of it,” Hudson said.
The facility in Greensboro that is supposed to house migrant children is also on Hudson’s mind, and he described calling in the head of Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to a hearing to ask about it.
Hudson said Becerra said under oath that there were no plans to house any minor children in North Carolina, which turned out to be false.
“The next time he came before my committee, I asked him about it and I said, ‘Were you being clever to deceive me or were you outright lying to me?’ And he gave a politician’s answer,” said Hudson. “But the bottom line is that they have plans to do it.”
When asked about down-ticket races in a presidential election year and the impact of possible voter fatigue, Hudson said everywhere he goes “people are outraged” and Democrat policies are to blame for feeling less financially secure and less safe.
“I think people are very motivated. I think they’re going to come out and vote and I think we’re going to see a huge change in this country,” Hudson said. “I think President Trump will be reelected. I think we’ll have a Republican Senate, and I think we’ll pick up seats in the House.”
For more information on Hudson, visit his campaign site at richardhudson.org or his official congressional website at hudson.house.gov.
