Few surprises in North Carolina's US House contests

RALEIGH — It’s fourteen terms and counting for U.S. Rep. David Price, who secured a runaway victory Tuesday night in North Carolina's 4th District, which represents the Chapel Hill area.

“We’ve been here many election nights before,” Price said in his victory address at the N.C. Democratic Headquarters. “I promise you I will fight just as hard as I can.”

A proponent of strong education in the state, Price touted Democrats' collaborative efforts for helping him hold his seat.

“We’re stronger when we pull together,” Price said. “We’re Democrats, we believe education’s the best investment we can make.”

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said Price had earned his position.

“I think voting for a Democrat says that we are not of the ideology that’s come out of the General Assembly,” Marshall said.

Democrat Laura Fjeld didn't fare as well in her 6th District race against Republican Mark Walker. The race was called before 9 p.m., with Walker winning 58.6 percent of the vote and Fjeld garnering 41.3 percent with all precincts reporting.

In Greensboro, Fjeld addressed the crowd at 9:30 p.m. at Kay Hagan’s election night party to concede defeat.

"We took the battle to them and fought as hard as we could,” she said.

Fjeld congratulated Walker on his campaign before challenging him to follow through on his campaign promises.

"I challenge Mark to be guided by his faith and do the right things for North Carolina," she said. "Be a voice for the middle and lower classes like he said he would."

Dan Blue, chair of the Wake County Democratic Party, supported Price in his “virtually guaranteed” victory but said Democrats could not win it all .

“In this election, if you are voting for the Democrats on the federal level, you’re probably disgusted with a Congress that’s not doing much,” Blue said.

In other notable U.S. House contests, incumbent Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers handily defeated celebrity singer Clay Aiken in the GOP-leaning 2nd District, and Democrat Alma Adams became the 100th woman elected to Congress — the largest women's representation ever — when she resoundingly won her District 12 race against Republican Vince Coakley.

N.C. GOP Chairman Claude Pope was optimistic about his party’s odds in this election, correctly predicting Republican dominance in the Senate.

Pope said the election reflected the agenda of the White House.

“It’s really a referendum of Obama’s policies overall,” he said.

AJ Daoud, GOP chairman for the 6th District — newly victorious Mark Walker’s district — said he has high hopes for Walker.

“His slogan was ‘People before politics’ and he really wants to make a change in D.C.,” Daoud said.

Staff writers Corey Risinger and Michael Liguori contributed reporting.

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