Richard Hudson ‘hopeful, optimistic’ heading into his 6th term as NC congressman

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Ready to tackle inflation and fresh off winning a sixth term in congress, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R) says his top priority is inflation and funding for veteran services.

He has represented North Carolina’s District 8 since 2013, which includes Fort Bragg.

“Going into this winter, I’m really worried about folks having to make tough decisions between heating their homes and food and medicine,” said Hudson.

Republicans will have a narrow majority in the U.S. House while Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Will a GOP legislative agenda see the end of President Biden’s pen?

“I’m actually optimistic. I think you can get a lot of big things done in divided government because you get to share the blame as well as sharing the credit,” Hudson said.

In his next term, Hudson will be the highest-ranking Republican member of congress from North Carolina in history.

He was also just voted to chair the National Republican Congressional Committee. That brings with it a powerful voice from our state. One that will have to be heard as a voice of compromise across the aisle to get anything done.

“I’m hopeful that we can get a compromise that secures the border with the President. I think on energy there are some philosophical differences. I think there’s plenty of room to compromise if we could focus on what’s actually going to have an impact on the environment rather than just targeting fossil fuels,” said Hudson.

Americans have not forgotten the lack of readiness for the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s another topic Hudson believes both sides can agree on.  

“I’m also the Republican lead on pandemic preparedness and we’ve got a big authorization that has to be done by the end of September and so I think there’s a lot of work on preparing for the next pandemic that we can do in a bi-partisan way,”  he said.