The Republican whose entire job this year was keeping the House in GOP hands has now officially lost his own seat.
Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, conceded his re-election race on Wednesday afternoon to Democrat Richard Ojeda in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. NBC News had projected Tuesday night that Ojeda won the race by about 2 percentage points.
“I respect it”
In a statement reported by The Wall Street Journal and Politico, Hudson said he had called Ojeda to congratulate him.
“Last night, the voters of North Carolina’s 9th District made their choice, and I respect it,” Hudson said. “God is sovereign over my life, and He has a plan for all of us.”
He added that he wished Ojeda well and looked forward to working with him “to ensure a smooth transition for the people of North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District.”
A district Republicans have held since 1963
This was not supposed to be a competitive seat. Republicans have held the 9th District since 1963, according to NBC News. President Trump carried it by 16 points in 2024, Hudson won it by more than 18 points that same year, and the Cook Political Report rated the race Likely Republican going into Election Day, according to The Washington Times.
Hudson has served in Congress since 2013 and, as NRCC chair, was the fifth-highest-ranking Republican in the House, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. He was the person in charge of protecting the GOP majority. Instead, Democrats won control of the House on Tuesday night, and Hudson’s own district went with them.
Who is Richard Ojeda?
Ojeda is a retired Army major who spent nearly two decades at Fort Bragg, the News & Observer reports. He is also a former West Virginia state senator who briefly ran for president in the 2020 cycle. With his win, he becomes the first Democrat to hold the district since 1963.
“We just unseated the chair of the NRCC,” Ojeda wrote on X. “It’s a new day in America.”
Part of a much bigger night
Hudson’s concession lands on the same day House Speaker Mike Johnson told colleagues he will not stay on as Republican leader in the new Congress, after his party lost its majority. House Republicans plan to choose their new leaders on Nov. 10.
Results in North Carolina remain unofficial until the state’s canvass is completed on Nov. 13.