Don Davis (North Carolina politician)

Donald Gene Davis (born August 29, 1971) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2023.

A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 5th district in the North Carolina Senate from 2013 to 2023. Davis was first elected to the post in 2008, representing Pitt, Wayne, and Greene counties. He was defeated for reelection in 2010, but ran and won a Senate seat for the newly redrawn 5th district in the 2012 election.

Early political career
Elected mayor of Snow Hill in 2001, Davis also chaired North Carolina's 1st congressional district Democratic Party. He filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1st district in 2004, but dropped out before the primary election.

In 2005, Davis was reelected as mayor. On October 1, 2007, he announced plans to file for the North Carolina Senate District 5 seat. Davis was one of six Democratic candidates to file for the seat held by retiring Senator John Kerr III. He received the most votes, 36%, in the May 6, 2008, primary election.

As Davis did not receive the 40% of the vote required to win the primary, he faced Kathy Taft in a runoff. On June 24, 2008, Davis won the Democratic nomination with 63% of the vote in the runoff. He faced North Carolina Representative Louis Pate, a Wayne County Republican, in the general election.

On November 4, 2008, Davis defeated Pate with 53% of the vote. His term began on January 1, 2009.

In a rematch of the 2008 election, Pate defeated Davis in the 2010 election.

In October 2013, Davis went on a legislative visit to China sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

In July 2014, it was reported that Davis had "met with a group of Chinese medical exchange students from Wuhan" to "discuss the role politics plays in health care".

Davis ran unopposed in 2016. He defeated Pitt County District Attorney Kimberly Robb in the 2018 election. Committee assignments
 * Agriculture, Energy, and Environment
 * Appropriations on Education/Higher Education
 * Education/Higher Education
 * Health Care
 * Redistricting and Elections
 * Rules and Operations of the Senate
 * Select Committee on Nominations
 * Select Committee on Storm Related River Debris and Damage in NC

2022
On December 1, 2021, Davis announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives to succeed retiring Democrat G. K. Butterfield. He won the Democratic primary for the 2022 election for North Carolina's 1st congressional district, defeating former state senator Erica D. Smith. In November 2022, Davis won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Sandy Smith.

Tenure
Davis invited a 109-year-old woman from Battleboro named Cassie Smith to attend the 2024 State of the Union Address.

In 2024, Davis was the lone Democratic co-sponsor of a bill by Representatives Greg Murphy and Brett Guthrie that weakened Medicare's ability to negotiate prices.

Davis voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. He was also among the House Democrats who voted to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib for her comments about the Israel-Hamas war.

In March 2024, Davis, representative August Pfluger, and a news reporter wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Examiner. The piece criticized the push by many members of Congress to condition U.S. aid to Israel.

Caucus memberships
Source:


 * New Democrat Coalition
 * Congressional Black Caucus