The winner of a North Carolina toss-up race could help decide who controls the US House

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A pathway for Republicans to keep the U.S. House or for Democrats to take control of it may partially hinge on who is victorious in North Carolina’s only toss-up congressional district.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, who is in his first term, and GOP opponent Laurie Buckhout are engaged in a fierce battle to win North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, one of the few competitive districts across the Southeast. The race has attracted millions of dollars from both parties to either flip or maintain the district, which spans from Currituck County to a small portion of Granville County in the state’s northeast.

The district’s political landscape is a bit different for Davis compared to when he defeated Republican opponent Sandy Smith in 2022. Last year, the GOP-controlled state legislature added a handful of conservative-leaning counties to the district, making it less blue than it once was.

Davis was born and raised in Snow Hill and has held various political positions in the region, including as his hometown’s mayor and a state senator. He also is a U.S. Air Force veteran.

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Buckhout served in the U.S. Army for more than 25 years before retiring and starting a Virginia-based military technology consulting company. She sold the company and moved to Edenton a few years ago.

Both Davis and Buckhout have sought to tie each other to the unpopular policies or controversial behaviors of other candidates in their respective parties.

Buckhout’s campaign has repeatedly tried to tie Davis with Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic and immigration policies as a way to win over voters dissatisfied with the Biden-Harris administration. Davis voted with House Republicans in July to condemn Harris’ work at the U.S.-Mexico border, then endorsed her presidential run a day later. He has also campaigned with her, speaking at one of her rallies in Greenville in October.

Democratic groups supporting Davis, meanwhile, have tried to draw connections between Buckhout and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whose gubernatorial campaign has been fighting back against a CNN report alleging that he made several graphic sexual and racist comments on an online pornography forum about a decade ago. Robinson has denied the claims, and The Associated Press has not independently verified them.

Those groups also have used photos in which Buckhout appears with Robinson to tie her to the lieutenant governor’s shifting stance on abortion restrictions. Buckhout has previously said that she’s focused on her own race rather than Robinson’s.