U.S. House District 7: Congressional race in SE North Carolina has a Wilmington tilt

Wilmington-area residents comprise a majority of candidates seeking to win the seat for the 7th Congressional District. Four of six candidates hail from the eastern part of a district that stretches from Cumberland to New Hanover counties and includes several rural counties.

The 7th District, like the state's other districts, was redrawn and finalized after a contentious legal dispute between Democrats and Republicans that wound up before the North Carolina Supreme Court. The approved map splits Cumberland County between the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts. The 7th District includes all of New Hanover County (Wilmington) as well as Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Pender and Robeson counties.

The party primary elections are May 17. The winner in each will advance to the general election.

More election news: Candidates file for offices, setting up primary races in Fayetteville, Cumberland County

Below are the candidates competing for the seat currently held by Republican Rep. David Rouzer, who is seeking reelection.

Democratic Party primary

Charles Evans

Evans, 61, of Fayetteville, is an at-large Cumberland County commissioner and a recent past chairman of the board. He has also served on the Fayetteville City Council.

Evans said his work ethic will distinguish him from the other candidates, particularly Rouzer.

“He's a no-show person,” he said of the incumbent, adding that people want to see and hear from those they send to Washington.

Criminal justice reform, healthcare and local economic development are all issues Evans lists as priorities at his website.

Evans has traditionally been an advocate for low-income and homeless residents of the city and county. He said he would make sure rural counties in the district are not left behind. He also promised to move past the bitter partisanship in the U.S. Congress.

"People need to feel their representative is working for them," he said. "We are so engaged in the back-and-forth and not connecting with what's best for our citizens."

N.C. Rep. Charles Graham

Graham, 70, of Lumberton, currently represents District 47, which covers Robeson County, in the state General Assembly. He said he wants to “meet the needs of Rural North Carolina” in a news release announcing his bid for Congress earlier this month. He did not respond to a request seeking comment last week.

“Over 12 years in the legislature I have delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to Robeson County,” he said in the news release. “I am proud of my legacy and look forward to being the fighter this district needs.”

Graham owns a companion home-health company. The biography on his campaign website said he began his career in Pembroke as an educator assisting children with special needs. He said he “spent 30 years fighting the system to recognize these children’s humanity.”

Yushonda Midgette

Midgette, 51, is a singer, self-published author and activist who lives in Winnabow in Brunswick County, about 15 miles west of Wilmington. “Your need is my concern,” she wrote on her campaign website, where she described herself as “a leader, an educator, a believer, a laborer and a servant of justice and equality.” She did not respond to a request seeking comment last week.

Among the issues she highlighted on her website are education, women’s rights, cancer research for children, affordable housing, special needs advocacy, equal voting rights and agriculture.

In September, she organized a Love Me, Don’t Hurt Me event in Wilmington to promote school safety. It brought together schools, churches and local businesses. She has published a book about the issue as well.

Steve Miller

Miller, 77, of Wilmington, is a retired businessman who has had various jobs in environmental consulting.

Miller said many issues inspired him to run for Congress, including the country's reliance on fossil fuels, the rollback of Black voting rights and the hard-right shift of the U.S. Supreme Court. On his Twitter profile, he also said he wants to protect women’s rights and decriminalize marijuana.

But he said the trigger to his decision to run for office was the Jan. 6 riots and assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Miller criticized incumbent Republican Rouzer's vote to overturn election results in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that certified President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

“I said, ‘That’s it. That’s it. We have to speak out against this guy,” Miller said.

In Wilmington, he is involved with many nonprofits that help people with food insecurity, those with disabilities and students and young people in need of mentors, according to his campaign website.

Miller said he has a more diverse background in national and international affairs than other candidates in the Democratic primary because of his environmental career, where he started with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

On social issues, he said he may share many of the same values as the other Democrats. He said of Graham that during his time in the state legislature he voted in support of the "infamous bathroom bill," which was repealed and required people to use the bathroom of their gender assigned at birth. He also said Graham was in the past "a little more pro-life than pro-choice."

Miller describes himself as firmly pro-choice and believes abortions should be available on-demand in the first trimester. He said he could support some state restrictions for the second and third trimesters.

Republican Party primary

Max Southworth-Beckwith

Beckwith, 32, a Marine Corps veteran who said he is an eighth-generation Marine, lives in Currie in Pender County, about 30 miles northwest of Wilmington. He has also worked as a residential construction superintendent and federal construction contractor and has built custom homes and rehabbed historic homes in Wilmington.

He is running in the Republican Party primary but classifies himself as a Constitutional Libertarian.

Beckwith said he was inspired to run mostly by what he calls the "Afghan debacle," the decision by Biden to end U.S. military involvement in the country, which led to a quick takeover by the Taliban.

"I need to do something," Beckwith said, adding he decided, "Where can I do the most damage to the corrupt establishment, the elitists and whatnot?"

Beckwith said he will not take money from lobbyists.

"The only people that should have their hooks in me are the people who elected me," he said.

He supports term limits and he said if elected he will introduce a bill to enact them. Even if the bill fails, he said he would serve three terms at most.

Beckwith is pro-life and does not believe in abridging gun rights in any way. If elected, he said he would introduce a bill that would create a nonpartisan investigative unit that could lead to criminal penalties for congressional representatives found guilty of financial improprieties. He lays out the specifics of how it would work at his campaign website.

"I believe just in the general idea we need to have more fresh blood coming through," he said, "we can't just keep the same stagnant, status quo."

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Congressman David Rouzer

U.S. Rep. David Rouzer is seeking his fifth term representing the 7th Congressional District.

Rouzer said he is seeking reelection because "the principles that made America great deserve to survive."

He said the country is at a crossroads.

"How well we defend and protect those principles will determine if we save America," he said. "While serving in Congress I’ve advocated and voted for a stronger military, stronger borders and a federal government that protects our God-given rights as prescribed by the Constitution."

He said he wants to continue that work and to fight for policies that promote fiscal discipline, will make America dominant in energy again and will help control inflation.

Rouzer said "since day one," he has been the top Republican on subcommittees on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He said those roles have helped him better address the unique needs of the 7th District.

"I have sponsored and co-sponsored a number of provisions in law that have been of benefit to our farm families and rural communities and helped provide disaster assistance to hurricane and flood victims as well better care for our veterans and their families," he said. "I have also focused on flood mitigation measures, streamlining disaster assistance so that in the future individuals and families can receive aid quicker following devastating storms."

He cited clean-up of PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals," as a priority focus and providing state and local governments with tools to fight the opioid epidemic.

Rouzer said his voting record at the national level reflects his conservative values.

"At the national level, my voting record in Congress has consistently reflected my conservative values," he said, stating that moral and spiritual principles are necessary for self-government to work.

"I have been a staunch advocate of our 2nd Amendment rights, rebuilding our military, energy production, and securing our border," he said via email. "Fighting for better care of our veterans has continued to be a top priority of mine."

Earlier in March, Rouzer criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine, characterizing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move as “genocide” and “pure evil.”

Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: U.S. House District 7: Congressional race in SE NC has Wilmington tilt