Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam has announced a primary challenge against Rep. Valerie Foushee in North Carolina's 4th Congressional District. The 31-year-old progressive enters the race with backing from several national left-leaning groups and Sen. Bernie Sanders, positioning her campaign as a bid to bring more aggressive resistance to Donald Trump’s agenda and stronger representation for working-class voters.
Democrat Nida Allam, a 31-year-old Durham County commissioner, launched her bid for Congress on Thursday, challenging Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) in the Democratic primary for North Carolina's 4th Congressional District.
The Durham-based, solidly Democratic district has become a focal point for national progressive organizations frustrated with some incumbent House Democrats, according to reporting by Politico and other outlets.
Allam begins the campaign with support from a slate of influential progressive groups, including Justice Democrats, David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, the Working Families Party and the Sunrise Movement, as well as an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
In her announcement, Allam said she is running to provide more forceful opposition to what she has described as Trump-era authoritarian tendencies and policies that harm working families. “I’m running for Congress because in a moment when our community faces dueling crises of Republican authoritarianism and corporate billionaire greed, we need leaders in Washington who will actually fight to deliver the brighter future we deserve and desperately need,” she said in a statement reported by NC Newsline.
Allam has also criticized Foushee as insufficiently vocal in confronting Trump and his administration’s policies. In interviews and public remarks highlighted by North Carolina public radio stations, she has argued that constituents want more than social media statements from their member of Congress and need representatives who will “push back against Trump’s authoritarianism” and prioritize working-class communities.
Foushee, 69, has represented the 4th District since 2023 and is seeking a third term. In response to Allam’s challenge, she issued a statement emphasizing her record and continued focus on constituent needs. “Throughout my years in public service, I’ve faced every challenge with the same approach: show up, do the work, and stay focused on delivering real results for North Carolina. That commitment is the foundation of everything I’ve done, and it remains unchanged,” Foushee said, according to NOTUS.
Foushee and her allies point to her membership in both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the centrist New Democrat Coalition, where she chairs an artificial intelligence task force, as evidence of her legislative engagement. She has highlighted work on issues including voting rights, health care and affordable housing, while also facing scrutiny from the left over past support from super PACs and corporate-linked donors.
Allam’s candidacy is part of a broader pattern of progressive primary bids against sitting Democrats. Politico notes that her announcement comes as other left-leaning challengers launch campaigns against incumbents viewed as more moderate within the party, underscoring an ongoing struggle over the direction of the Democratic caucus.
The Allam–Foushee contest is also a rematch of the 2022 primary, when Foushee won the nomination by single digits. This time, progressives are testing whether a more coordinated national effort — and heightened anger over Trump-era policies and foreign policy debates — can shift the balance in one of North Carolina’s safest Democratic seats.
