Editor’s Note: The Ocracoke Observer will report on candidates who visit the island to meet its residents.
By Connie Leinbach and Peter Vankevich
U.S. Representative Don Davis of District 1 visited Ocracoke on April 7.
He is running for reelection in House District 1 and Ocracoke islanders, and the other voting residents of Hyde County will vote for him or his only opponent, Republican Laurie Buckhout, in the Nov. 3 election.
Last year, the state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly redrew the congressional map, moving all of Hyde County out of District 3 and into District 1.
The 2024 redistricting was intended to make the seat more favorable to Republicans, part of a broader national trend of partisan gerrymandering. It began when Texas redrew its districts to benefit Republicans. California followed and redrew its maps to favor Democrats. Virginia voters will decide on April 21 whether to adopt new maps viewed as more favorable to Democrats, and early voting in that election has been heavy.
Until the end of the year Ocracoke and all of Hyde County will remain in House District 3 but will vote for the District 1 candidates.
Rep. Greg Murphy (Greenville-R) currently represents Ocracoke in District 3 and is seeking reelection.
Davis was first elected to the House of Representatives in November 2022. In 2024, he was reelected, narrowly beating Buckhout.
During Davis’s visit, publicized on social media on short notice, he took a quick tour of the village and met with islanders on the grounds of Books to Be Red and later visited the Fish House.
This was a get-acquainted visit for both Davis, his staff and islanders who met him for the first time.
Davis, of Snow Hill, is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the House.
As he chatted withabout a dozen islanders, he didn’t seem fazed about the redistricting that was aimed at the northeast corner of the state.
He began his political career unseating the Snow Hill mayor followed by 12 years as a state Senator.
“It’s the same service, the same values, no matter where I’ve been, no matter where I go and, hear this. No matter how they draw the different districts, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “This is not my first rodeo in North Carolina with redistricting. I’ve served three terms now, or going towards the third term now in the House, and this will be the third different map.”
Davis recounted his childhood cropping tobacco and after high school, went on to the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Before moving into politics, he was an assistant professor of aerospace studies, teaching National Security Affairs, military history, leadership courses at ECU. According to Ballotpedia, he as master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University, an M.A. in sociology from East Carolina University, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership from East Carolina University.
A pothole in the Snow Hill street prompted his pivot into politics.
He said he and his friends would ride bikes around their town and a certain pothole would impede them from doing wheelies.
“We had to go around this pothole that was in the road,” he said. “When I returned as adult I was walking the street and noticed it was still there. Matter of fact, it expanded. I started thinking how many times someone has walked by it or driven over it over the years and it became part of our everyday life.
“For me, I felt that I needed to roll up my sleeves and try to do something about it.”
That can-do attitude led to his unseating the 10-year incumbent mayor with 64% of the vote.
Later, he said, the former mayor became one of his strongest supporters.
Davis said that no matter how the voting maps have been drawn, he visits communities and talks with the people.
“Because this is where the information is,” he said. “This is how I feel that I become a more effective representative, and the representation starts right here with these conversations that we’re having today.”
As a Democrat, he did not support H.R.1, signed into law on July 4, 2025, and is a major reconciliation package that cuts taxes, reduces federal spending on social programs like SNAP and Medicaid, increases the statutory debt limit by $5 trillion, and boosts defense and immigration enforcement funding.
“But the reality of it is, if we want to talk about this and be honest about it, we’re adding so much to the national debt,” he said. “Not only are we adding to the national debt, but we’re truly just shortchanging rural health care. I’m really concerned about rural America, and how then do we come together as we’re engaged in conversations?”
He said two thirds of the growth in this state has occurred in two counties—Wake and Mecklenburg.
“We can’t leave the other 98 counties out and behind, and that’s my fight,” he said.
Among the listeners was Justin LeBlanc, executive director of Ocracoke Access Alliance, who talked about the critical needs of NC12 at the north end.
He said the alliance has an appropriation request into Davis’s office to fund moving he road at the sandbag area 30 feet to the west as an interim fix while the community works on a long-term solution to the erosion at the north end of Ocracoke.
“One of the things that we try to make sure folks are aware of is that we’re not making these investments in Highway 12, in the ferries, for 850 residents of Ocracoke,” LeBlanc said. “We’re doing it for the several hundred thousand visitors that come here every year, to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.”
Davis said he was looking at all of the challenges along NC12.
Vince O’Neal spoke for the commercial fishermen on the island.
“There’re not many of us left, but we’re getting squeezed out by federal regulations,” he said. “We really need to get some of these layers of regulation removed. Commercial fishing is a big part of tourism. People aren’t coming here to eat imported seafood.”
Davis touts his sincerity.
“I came back (to Snow Hill) not just to live,” he said. “I came back to make a difference. I went on as mayor to fill that pothole. But there’s so many potholes across eastern North Carolina, and it’s up to us if we’re going to do it. So, I’m ready to roll up the sleeves once again and fill potholes.”
According to the website Carolina Demography by UNC-Chapel Hill, the new map substantially alters the 1st Congressional District in northeastern North Carolina, a region of the state historically known as the Black Belt because of the relatively larger share of Black residents. It has been held by a Democrat since 1883.
With the approval of the new map, Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, and Pamlico Counties, and a section of Onslow County, have been moved from District 3 to District 1. Greene, Lenoir, Wilson, and Wayne Counties have been moved from District 1 to District 3.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly believes these shifts will result in Buckhout winning the rematch and also that Murphy will be reelected.
The 1st District is currently rated a “toss-up” for 2026 by the Cook Political Report — North Carolina’s only competitive House seat.
