Primary election for North Carolina’s U.S. House 9th Congressional District 

Come Tuesday, two Republican candidates will face off in the primary for North Carolina’s U.S. House Dist. 9: political newcomer Troy Tarazon and incumbent Rep. Richard Hudson (R-9), who has represented the district since 2013. 

The 9th Congressional District encompasses the northwestern part of Cumberland County, including parts of Fort Liberty and Fayetteville — as well as all of Hoke, Moore, Randolph, and Alamance counties, and parts of Chatham and Guilford counties. The district leans heavily Republican. Having performed strongly in previous races for the seat, Hudson is likely to do well in this year’s primary and November’s general election, where he would oppose the sole running Democrat, Nigel Bristow.

Neither Hudson nor Tarazon responded to CityView’s request for comment by publication time. 

Here’s some background about the candidates and where they stand on key issues: 

Richard Hudson

Hudson, who lives with his wife and son in Southern Pines, has served in Congress since 2013 and is seeking a seventh term in the U.S. House. Hudson sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee and is the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), making him the fifth-ranking Republican in the 118th Congress, according to his campaign website. 

Hudson has been named the 12th most conservative member of the U.S. House and has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association, according to his campaign website.  

On the Energy and Commerce Committee, Hudson is “working to cut federal spending, reduce drug prices for seniors, and unleash American energy to lower costs for everyone and create jobs,” according to his campaign website. 

“As your congressman, I am proud to have worked alongside President Donald Trump to make America the most prosperous and safe country on Earth,” Hudson said in his reelection announcement. “But Joe Biden’s failed leadership is destroying all of that work. I want to continue fighting for our men and women in uniform, veterans, parents’ rights, farmers, the Second Amendment, and small businesses.”

Hudson has raised almost $2 million to help fund his campaign’s reelection effort.

According to Hudson’s campaign website, his highest priorities include: 

• Environment: Advocating for legislation to address PFAS chemicals, including GenX, in the Cape Fear River; a founding member of the Conservative Climate Caucus in support of “free-market ideas” to reduce carbon emissions
• Health care: Increasing emphasis on strict consumer health care protections, cost transparency for health care providers, measures to combat the opioid epidemic, and pandemic preparedness 

• Veterans/military/soldiers: Funding for the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) and support for veteran caregivers; funding for soldier pay raises, resources for military families and soldiers returning from combat

• 2nd Amendment: Leading U.S. House efforts to pass the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, opposing efforts to ban green tip ammunition, supporting expanding concealed carry reciprocity

• Creating jobs: Cutting taxes, funding worker retraining programs at community colleges

• Cutting spending: Pledging not to increase taxes, reducing government spending 

• Anti-abortion: Defending bans on partial-birth abortions, fighting legislation to legalize euthanasia, keeping protections to prohibit tax dollars from funding abortions

Troy Tarazon 

Tarazon, a resident of Sanford, is a veteran with 20 years of active-duty military experience, according to his campaign website. Serving at Fort Liberty as a Signal Chief Warrant Officer 4, he retired from the military in 2022, after a career that involved two combat deployments in Iraq and a decade of different overseas assignments. Tarazon has been married to his wife for 20 years, and they have two sons and a daughter.

With no previous political experience, Tarazon has focused his campaign on his military background and personal connection to Fort Liberty and awareness of the everyday needs of veterans and military members. The first-time candidate recently appeared on local radio show “Good Morning Fayetteville,” where he talked more about his campaign, emphasizing his strong connection to Fort Liberty in his interview. 

“I bleed green,” Tarazon said. “And that's the biggest thing that I want to do, advocate more for our veterans and knowing wholeheartedly what they go through while they're in uniform and what they need when they get out of uniform. I'm a living testament to that, and that's what I want to bring forward, is that understanding and that empathy from the veteran perspective.”

Tarazon has also said he is dedicated to supporting the working class, presenting himself as an everyman. He has stated that he did not come from financial means and has experienced financial hardships before. 

“I've lived in a trailer park before,” Tarazon said on “Good Morning Fayetteville.” “I'm not a wealthy man from a financial perspective, I'm supporting my own campaign. But what I do bring is I bring a work ethic, I bring integrity. I bring loyalty and duty to what I'm running for.”

According to Tarazon’s campaign website, his priorities include: 

• Veterans: Supporting health care and mental health support for veterans, ending veteran homelessness, working with the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Administration to help fix backlogs and improve access to VA benefits

• 2nd Amendment: Defending gun rights with “no compromise to the 2nd Amendment” 

• Inflation, budget, government spending: Opposing excessive taxation, increasing accountability and transparency in government spending, advocating for fiscal responsibility, reducing inflation 

• Congressional term limits: Supporting an amendment to the Constitution to enact term limits in Congress 

• Southern border: Securing the border against illegal crossings, restricting immigrant entry, increasing scrutiny of both immigrant screenings and humanitarian relief at the border

• Health care: Increasing health care accessibility and affordability in rural areas, providing adequate supplemental funding for rural hospitals, introducing legislation to prevent rural hospital closures

• Education: Totally eliminating the U.S. Dept. of Education or limiting its “authoritative reach severely,” increasing the number of schools or expanding existing school infrastructure, supporting teacher pay raises and school choice

• Social Security: Supporting Social Security benefits without increasing taxes, preserving Social Security by cutting “erroneous” government spending 

Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. 

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