Local Limelight with N.C. Congresswoman Deborah Ross

U.S. Congresswoman Deborah Ross, a Democrat who represents most of Wake County, spoke with Axios Raleigh for our Local Limelight series. Read on for her picks.

🍜 Her favorite places to eat in Raleigh:

• Under the radar spot: Pho Far East
• For a date night: Garland
• In her neighborhood: Trophy Brewing & Pizza and Sam Jones BBQ

🚈 What she thinks the Triangle is missing: A wide variety of public transportation

📱 First thing she reads in the morning: The e-edition of The News & Observer, WRAL's app, Axios and NC Policy Watch

📚 Last great books she read: "Convenience Store Woman" and "Last First Kiss" by her former UNC law professor, Walter Bennett

📻 Go-to podcast: "Under the Dome" by the N&O’s state politics team — though Ross says she’s typically an "old school radio person" who listens to NPR more than podcasts.

🫐 Favorite long-weekend spot: Ashe County. While she's there in the summer, she likes to visit Old Orchard Creek blueberry farm.

• Other spots in Ashe County she enjoys: Molley Chomper's Hard Cider and Pie on the Mountain

🐶 Family pet: Wylie, the 5-year-old, 125-pound deer hound.

🚺 If she could pass any law, it would be: Protecting a woman's right to reproductive freedom.

• "It is a right that might completely go away, and we just can’t go backward," Ross told Axios.

⏱ Something she's looking forward to: August recess, "when we're not going to be [in Washington] all the time," Ross said. "I can be in the district for a longer period of time and actually have some time to catch up with friends and be able to do things that are less structured."

🧘‍♀️How she unplugs: Morning exercise, like yoga or walks with Wylie, and breathing or mindfulness.

• "I always walk Wylie in the morning, and that is, I think a happy way to start the day because he’s always so happy," Ross said.