Political Report Card: NC 8th District Congressman Richard Hudson

CHARLOTTE (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) — Congressman Richard Hudson is asking for your vote again, but has he earned it? FOX 46 Chief Political Correspondent Emma Withrow has his political report card.

Hudson has served North Carolina’s 8th District for 8 years but has been on Capitol Hill most of his professional life. He started out as a staffer and now, at 49 years old, he’s hoping to get sent back to the Hill in 2022. He’s promised to work across the aisle, but says it has become more difficult recently.

“This year, things have been so partisan that it’s been hard to move a lot of things that should be bipartisan,” Hudson said.

Hudson is the House Republican Leader on Pandemic Preparedness. After trying to introduce a package of bills that would increase America’s stockpile and make the Country better equipped for another health crisis, he learned it was an uphill battle.

“I thought, you know, this is an area where we ought to be able to get something done this year. But I can’t even get the democrats to have a hearing on this issue, to even bring in some experts to kind of explore some of the some of the things we got wrong, some of the things we’ve got right.”

Hudson said he’s always been someone who builds relationships across the aisle, and his voting records reflect that. According to Gov Track, he’s cosponsored 201 bills written by democrats, and 853 written by Republicans, making him the most bipartisan Republican congressman from North Carolina.

“You know, if I disagreed some 80% of the time, I consider them a 20% friend.”

Since taking office in 2013, Hudson has been a sponsor or co-sponsor of 63 bills that were signed into law. Most of them focused on the armed forces and national security since his district includes Fort Bragg.

“We’ve talked about a program called preservation of the force in the family, which supports our Special Forces soldiers and their families with physical, mental, spiritual assistance, family support. We’ve continued to increase funding for that program every year. “

America’s recent withdrawal from Afghanistan made Hudson focus even more on veterans and their families.

“This has been the most awful experience for me, as a member of congress, since the Afghanistan withdrawal. I mean, it’s just been so frustrating, and just heartbreaking. And just, it’s hard to put into words.”

However, his words were much different back in 2017, reacting to Donald Trump’s plan to pull out. Hudson wrote in a statement:

“While the Obama administration never had a clear strategy, this President laid one out tonight that will allow our brave men and women in uniform to defeat ISIS, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups while enabling Afghan forces to defend their own nation.”

Hudson hasn’t produced any legislation in response to the withdrawal but says he’s been helping out behind the scenes.

“We’ve been working with other sources, military, private, trying to find any avenues to get these folks out, and continue to talk to the State Department.”

Though America hasn’t seen aggression from another country on its own soil since 9/11, we did see aggression from our own citizens on January 6th. That night, Hudson stood with colleagues on both sides of the aisle when he released the following statement:

“I was on the House floor today when this incident started. There was a great deal of emotion and fear. I never dreamed I would be locked-down in the House chamber and eventually evacuated for my safety as a mob roamed the halls of the Capitol.”

Ten months later, he remembers it a bit differently.

“I never felt like my life was in danger. I never panicked or felt scared. You know, it was a little eerie, you know, it was a little strange to be told that we’re being locked into the Capitol or into the House chamber for our own safety. We can hear folks outside, glass broke at one point on the door. And then some of the police officers drew their weapons. And at that point, it was sort of like, okay, this is different.”

Hudson, like the majority of the Republican Party, voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the assault. But he still supports prosecuting those responsible.

“I think there were some individual actors who planned this thing well in advance who are in jail now. And I think they oughta have the book thrown at them.”

Hudson said he is pushing forward and not dwelling on the past.

FOX 46 asked Congressman Hudson what grade he would give himself for his performance in congress over the last year and he said he’ll leave that up for the voters to decide.