Scoop: Democrat Richard Ojeda raises $1.2M to oust NRCC chair
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Richard Ojeda addresses campaign supporters during the first event of his 2020 presidential campaign run in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 19, 2018. Photo: John Sommers II/Getty Images
Democrat Richard Ojeda has raised nearly $1.2 million in his long-shot bid to unseat National Republican Congressional Committee chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Axios has learned.
Why it matters: It's an eye-popping sum for a non-incumbent Democrat challenging a senior Republican in a solidly conservative seat.
- Ojeda raised nearly $400,000 in from July to September, his campaign said in a press release first shared with Axios. A spokesperson said he had $250,000 cash-on-hand going into October.
- The release touted that the money came from 20,663 contributors with an average donation of $16.74.
- "My campaign donations are coming from real Americans, from the working class citizens across the country," Ojeda said in a phone interview.
By the numbers: Hudson's campaign reported raising over $1.2 million as of the end of June, including more than $400,000 between April and June.
- He has served in congress since 2013 and became chair of the NRCC in 2023, helping Republicans hold onto the House last year.
- Hudson has largely coasted to reelection since entering Congress, winning by nearly 19 percentage points in 2024.
- A Hudson spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Yes, but: Ojeda, a former U.S. Army major and West Virginia state senator, has a record of running in solidly red seats.
- He ran in West Virginia's 3rd congressional district in 2018, losing to Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) by 13 percentage points in a district that had voted for President Trump by 59 points two years earlier.
- In 2020 he ran unsuccessful campaigns for president and then U.S. Senate in West Virginia.
- He has drawn fire from Republicans for a resurfaced 2022 clip of him saying he would "kick the sh*t" out of Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
What he's saying: Ojeda told Axios he moved back to North Carolina five years ago after previously serving at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., for 15 years while in the Army.
- He moved to West Virginia after retiring from the military to be with his aging parents, he said.
- "West Virginia, I have to admit, it broke my heart. I worked so hard to ... fight for people that need real representation," Ojeda told Axios. "But I can tell you, we missed North Carolina.
What to watch: Republicans in the North Carolina legislature are planning to embark on a round of mid-decade redistricting that Ojeda acknowledges could make his race even more of an uphill battle.
- Still, he told Axios, he's not worried: "I don't care what they do ... if you want to change my boundary lines and add other counties to it, make no mistake, I'm gonna put boots on the ground there."
- "I'm going to keep saying what I need to say, and the people are going to know who I am and what I'm about," he added.
