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U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, left, faces a challenge in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District from Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, right.
RALEIGH
A new ad in North Carolina’s hotly contested primary for Durham and Orange County’s seat in Congress has caused controversy over accusations that it included “false and defamatory statements” about one of the candidates.
U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Democrat seeking her third term in Congress, released an ad this week accusing her opponent, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, of refusing to file a required financial disclosure.
“What is she hiding?” the ad, paid for directly by Foushee’s campaign, said.
In fact, Allam did file the financial disclosure form, but it was submitted late.
Allam’s campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to Foushee’s campaign and local TV stations on Tuesday, asking for the ad to be pulled from the air.
In a press release Tuesday, Allam said CBS-17 had “agreed to take the ad down immediately.”
“I am glad our district’s news stations will not sit idly by and air blatant lies and falsehoods against our campaign in the final week of this election,” Allam said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that the incumbent’s campaign felt the need to resort to dishonesty to win votes in this final stretch of our primary.”
CBS-17 declined to comment Wednesday when The News & Observer asked about the ad.
According to documents reviewed by the N&O, a representative for CBS-17 said the station would be “airing different traffic ASAP” in response to concerns about the ad.
ABC-11 and WRAL did not respond to an inquiry from The News & Observer about whether they would pull the ad.
In a statement to The N&O, Foushee called Allam’s cease-and-desist letter “an attempt to hide the fact that she missed the legal deadline and tried to hide her financial information from the people of the 4th district.”
“Covering up finances and missing simple paperwork deadlines is a page out of George Santos’ playbook and suggests she is not ready to be a member of Congress,” she said.
Though Allam did file the disclosure, the form’s filing date is listed as Feb. 20 — nearly three weeks past the deadline. Candidates for Congress are required to file personal financial disclosures at least 30 days before an election.
Disclosure forms do not include the exact amount a candidate or politician has in assets, but rather provide ranges that each asset is worth.
Allam’s form reports less than $50,000 in cash and cash investments, as well as less than $15,000 each in 401(k) investments in Nike stock and funds tied to the prices of gold and silver.
The report also includes two education savings funds, one valued between $15,000 and $50,000 and the other valued at less than $15,000.
It also notes Allam’s student loans and her mortgage.
“My filing looks like so many of the residents of this district, straddled by student loan debt and trying to afford my family’s home,” Allam said.
The ad is the latest incident in a contentious and expensive primary in the state’s bluest congressional district, the 4th district that encompasses Durham and Orange counties as well as parts of Wake and Chatham.
Allam and Foushee first ran against each other for the seat in 2022, in what became the most expensive Democratic congressional primary in the state’s history.
Foushee, who benefited from millions in outside spending by Israel-aligned PACs and a now-jailed cryptocurrency billionaire, won the race by 9 points and has served in Congress since.
In December, Allam announced that she would challenge the incumbent congresswoman once again, kicking off one of the state’s most-watched primaries this year.
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Kyle Ingram
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