GOP Campaign Chief Richard Hudson Loses His Own Seat in House Upset

Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, the lawmaker responsible for protecting his party’s House majority, lost his own reelection bid Tuesday in one of the most symbolic upsets of the midterms.

Democrat Richard Ojeda defeated the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman in North Carolina’s 9th District, denying Hudson an eighth consecutive term. With all precincts reporting early Wednesday, unofficial results showed Ojeda ahead by roughly 6,000 votes, according to WUNC.

The result overturned expectations in a district long considered safely Republican. Hudson won reelection by approximately 18 percentage points in 2024, and Republicans initially dismissed Democrats’ decision to target him this summer. His late television advertising signaled that the race had become more competitive.

Hudson’s defeat became a striking illustration of Republicans’ broader collapse: Democrats captured the House majority and flipped more than two dozen Republican-held districts nationwide. The party’s congressional campaign chief was unable to escape the same electoral backlash confronting the incumbents he was tasked with defending.

For Ojeda, a retired Army major and frequent candidate, the victory followed several unsuccessful bids for higher office.

He lost a West Virginia congressional race in 2018, briefly sought the presidency, and lost the Democratic Senate primary in 2020. He previously won election to West Virginia’s state Senate in 2016, making Tuesday his congressional breakthrough rather than his first electoral victory.