Rep. David Price, a student of Congress, gave a lesson in how to serve
As he prepared the first of what would become four editions of his book, “The Congressional Experience,” Rep. David Price considered this title: “A Political Scientist Goes To Washington.”
Now, in his 17th term — a run spit by a two-year hiatus after losing in 1994 before regaining his seat in 1996 — the North Carolina political scientist is coming home. Price announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2022.
“I’m not going to say I have a sense of closure, but I do have a sense of accomplishment,” the Chapel Hill Democrat told me. “It is a work in progress and at some point you have to say, ‘This is the time for me.’ ”
At 81, it is time for Price to allow younger Democrats to seek to represent the deep blue 4th District. It includes Durham, Orange, Franklin, Granville and Orange counties, along with parts of Wake, Chatham and Vance counties. Price had considered retiring four years ago, but he felt he was needed in Congress while Donald Trump was president.
“Once he was elected, we knew we were in for a rough ride,” Price said.
A political science professor at Duke before he entered Congress in 1987, Price chafed at being called “professor” by a congressional colleague. But the nickname was a telling one. In his decades in Washington, Price has been an earnest and thoughtful representative, liberal in his politics, but deeply traditional in his respect for the history of Congress and his commitment to work within the system.
Throughout his career, Price has focused on issues important to a district known for its universities and high-tech businesses. A longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee, he helped win funding for expansion of the EPA lab at Research Triangle Park. He has also advocated for education, election reforms, commuter rail transportation, health care and affordable housing.
A native of Tennessee, Price first attended Mars College before transferring to the University of North Carolina and then going on to Yale where he earned a divinity degree and a doctorate in political science.
As he prepares to leave Congress, Price feels that the institution is leaving itself. Once a more deliberative body led by senior members and more open to bipartisanship, he sees Congress, especially the House, as an institution where showmanship and partisanship prevail and experience and expertise matter less.
“I do have an overall sense that it’s harder to be a productive member than when I first came to Congress,” he said “Polarization and extreme partisanship have not been kind to the U.S. Congress.”
Former President Trump has modeled the idea that a politician can exist outside of his party and create his own following by stoking divisive issues. In his book, Price said he hopes that the current political atmosphere is a phase and not the future.
He wrote in the last chapter of his latest edition of “The Congressional Experience” that: “My hope for the post-Trump era is, first of all, that the end of Trumpism comes quickly, and secondly, that it involves the gathering of a broad center-left coalition on the Democratic side, with Republicans regrouping as an authentic center-right conservative party.”
Price’s record of service — and his reserved and studious approach to it — contrasts sharply with the representation offered by some Republicans in North Carolina’s delegation who serve only their own ambitions and Trump. Consider how much more effectively Price has played the role of House member compared to the obstructionist and polarizing Trump devotees North Carolina has recently sent to Congress.
The professor who went to Washington never stopped teaching. He has shown his district, his state and his nation what it is to be a competent, dedicated and truly patriotic member of Congress.
Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett at 919-829-4512, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com
