Find a response to this op-ed here: “Rep. Foushee is Experienced and Effective. Don’t Trade Her for a Newbie.”
Last month, the President of the Teen Democrats at my high school emailed me: A “considerable number” of questions pre-submitted for Rep. Valerie Foushee’s upcoming visit to the school were about the genocide in Gaza. Could members of my Democratic Socialist club submit other questions?
The Teen Dem President assumed our club coordinated those Gaza questions. We didn’t. After two years of witnessing genocide, my classmates spontaneously and understandably wanted to know if our district’s representative would fight for our values.
Rep. Foushee allowed none of the Gaza questions. Instead, she fielded soft-balls like “what was a favorite moment of your political career?”
If Rep. Foushee refused to answer high schoolers’ questions, I wondered, who was she answering to?
In 2022, Rep. Foushee won the Democratic primary with a flood of pro-Israel money: $2.8 million. Now-convicted cryptocurrency scammer Sam Bankman-Fried added an additional $1 million. It was the most expensive Democratic primary in state history.
The scale of the spending reflected a determination to keep this “safe” blue seat away from Rep. Foushee’s main challenger—Nida Allam, a young progressive and the first Muslim-American woman to be elected to office in North Carolina.
In April 2024, six months into Israel’s genocide, the news broke that Rep. Foushee took an AIPAC-organized trip to Israel. The picture of her standing next to Netanyahu caused outrage among her constituents.
Recently, Rep. Foushee has finally responded to the backlash, agreeing to stop taking AIPAC money and adding her name to the Block the Bombs bill that would halt offensive arms sales to Israel.
But in her public statements, she sounds resentful. In August, after responding to criticism of her pro-Israel funding, she declared, “I’m not answering that question any more!” As far as I can tell, she hasn’t, including at our high school forum.
And, in Rep. Foushee’s 2025 campaign contribution reports, I found a recent donation tied to the Israeli occupation. Caterpillar, who was excluded from Norway’s wealth fund because its bulldozers are used by Israel to commit “extensive and systematic violations” of international law, donated in September.
Rep. Foushee’s recent donations also feature weapons manufacturers: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and RTX (formerly Raytheon).
Many drug companies have donated, as did their lobbying group, PhRMA, who sued to block Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices.
As a member of the Transportation Committee, Foushee is courted by big transportation companies that aggressively fight regulations and consumer protections.
Valerie Foushee even receives funding from 3M, a manufacturer of PFAS “forever chemicals” who recently settled with Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA), along with 3 other companies, for $1.96 million. This is a small percentage of the estimated $75 million it will take to filter PFAS from our water. OWASA plans to raise our rates 15% to cover the difference.
While families in Orange County pay higher water bills to clean up a carcinogenic mess, the polluters help bankroll her re-election.
Whose side is Foushee on?
We live in one of the deepest blue districts in the country. We deserve a fighter in Congress, someone who isn’t afraid to answer questions from high schoolers and will reject corporate money.
Rep. Foushee is not that fighter. Her seat in Congress has been paid for by interests that demand, at best, a continuation of the status quo.
Now is not the time for politics as usual. ICE is kidnapping our neighbors, the cost of living is soaring, and young people like me struggle to see a future for ourselves.
Our district must be a lighthouse for a politics that upholds the dignity of all people.
Many strong progressives live in this district. I hope one will step up to challenge Rep. Foushee with a primary campaign.
Even though most of us can’t vote yet, my high school classmates and I will join you by going door to door to ensure that we have an unbought representative.
Finn McElwee is a junior at Chapel Hill High School (CHHS) and a founding co-chair of the CHHS Young Democratic Socialists of America.
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