Republican Lee Haywood announced his candidacy for the North Carolina 7th Congressional District on Sunday, Nov. 14.
Haywood is a longtime resident of Summerfield, which is in the new 11th Congressional District. However, current Republican 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx has announced she will be running for reelection to Congress in the 11th Congressional District. Foxx was first elected to Congress in 2004.
Congressional representatives are not required to live in the district they represent. However, they are required to live in the same state as the district they represent.
The new 7th Congressional District includes eastern Guilford County and Alamance, Randolph, Chatham and Lee counties as well as portions of Wake, Harnett and Davidson counties.
There is no incumbent in the new 7th Congressional District.
According to Dave’s Redistricting App, the new 7th Congressional District is 56.7 percent Republican and 41.2 percent Democrat.
In 2020, Haywood won the Republican nomination to run in the 6th Congressional District and lost to Democrat 6th District Congresswoman Kathy Manning. At that time the 6th district included all of Guilford County and a portion of Forsyth County that included most of Winston-Salem. It was a heavily Democratic district.
Haywood in the press release announcing his candidacy lists three priorities: safe streets, safe borders and safe ballots.
He also states, “Additionally, parents should have a greater say in the education of our children. We must return to the basics; reading, writing and arithmetic and put an end to social engineering. I am a supporter of school choice, we must focus on educational opportunities that are not limited to the student’s zip code, but their dreams and aspirations.”
Before the 2022 redistricting was approved, Haywood had announced his intention to run for Congress in what was then the 6th District. However, the new 6th District is made up of Orange and Durham counties and a portion of Wake County.
An excellent candidate! Not least because he volunteered a belief in school choice ( the parents actually have a choice about where their kids are taught). What a sharp contrast to say, George McClellan who wants to become a Guilford County Commissioner and who volunteered that he would like to throw more money at the local government schools monopoly. It’s the difference between a conservative and a RINO.
Go Lee! Good luck.
If I recall, he was crushed in the 6th district by almost a 2 to 1 margin. He should find the 7th district more republican oriented by I doubt he can deliver the messaging to get elected if his 2020 run was any evidence of his ability to campaign.