Republican Ted Budd Wins Re-Election In NC's 13th Congressional District Race

An expensive, closely watched race in North Carolina's 13th Congressional district ended up with the Republican incumbent holding on to the seat.

Ted Budd defeated Democratic candidate Kathy Manning, a former immigration attorney and philanthropist from Greensboro. Budd, who is from Advance, owns a gun shop and is involved in The Budd Group, his family's facilities business.

He thanked his supporters during his victory party at the WinMock barn in Davie County. Budd says he plans to stick to his traditional Republican values. He says some of the issues he plans to focus on when he goes back to Washington are helping families address the opioid crisis, more economic growth and health care.

“The voters in North Carolina 13 like record unemployment," he says. "And they want to send people to Congress that will keep fighting to cut taxes, will get government out of the way of small businesses and unleash the economy of the greatest country in the world, and friends, that is the agenda that I'm focused on.”

It was a contentious race between Budd and his Democratic challenger Kathy Manning. Manning held a campaign party at the Greensboro Coliseum. In a speech to supporters, Manning struck a tone of optimism for the future.

“This race has shown what's possible when we work together. We've taken a stand. We've sent a message. We have brought people from all across this district together and we have formed a community.”

Budd won the race with 52 percent of the vote in complete, but unofficial results.

The 13th Congressional district stretches across five counties, including parts of Guilford, and all of Davie and Davidson.

The boundaries were redrawn by state legislative leaders in 2016 after a federal court ruled that two of the state's congressional districts were racially gerrymandered.

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WFDD's Sean Bueter also contributed to this story.