U.S. House of Representative District 9

Lent C. Carr II

Lent Carr II is running to be the Democratic nominee for North Carolina’s 9th congressional district. He currently serves as chancellor and professor at Emmaus Corp. Embassy International University and national president of the National Congressional Voting Caucus for Human Rights. 

In 2024, Carr ran in the Democratic primary for Hoke County Board of Commissioners and has previously run for city council and board of education. Carr said he believes this experience differentiates him from other candidates.

“What distinguishes my candidacy is preparation and consistency,” Carr said. “I am a lifelong Democrat and public servant with a record of civil and human rights advocacy. My campaign is built on a fully developed legislative framework grounded in research, economics and lived community experiences.”

According to Carr, he has heard that District 9 constituents are most concerned about economic pressures including the rising cost of housing, access to affordable health care and small business growth. If elected to the House of Representatives, Carr plans to propose his Economic Inclusion Empowerment Bill which he says would address these economic concerns and repeal and replace the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump in July 2025.

“Voters deserve a representative whose positions are stable, whose commitment to the district is rooted in residency and service and whose platform is more than talking points — it’s a roadmap ready for implementation,” Carr said.

He also emphasized that his campaign centers around transparency and accountability, something he says constituents are missing with representative Richard Hudson.

“How we will implement that is regular district town halls, transparent reporting on legislative activity and accessible constituent services that respond quickly to local concerns,” Carr said. “I also believe in publishing clear progress reports to the citizens, and what that actually does is it is going to allow them to track what has been proposed, advanced or delivered.”

Nigel W. Bristow

Before moving to North Carolina in 2011, Nigel Bristow served for 20 years as a detective with the New York City Police Department. He is now a chief of probation and parole for Anson County and is running for the Democratic nomination to represent District 9.

This is Bristow’s second time running for the position, and he said he has spent the past two years developing deeper connections with constituents.

“I ran the first time last cycle because nobody else would stand up for the district and fight for them,” Bristow said. “I stood up during that cycle, and even though it didn’t end in a victory, I stayed committed to the district and continued to work throughout the district. Now, I’m here to run again, to fight for them and to pretty much put the people first and return their voice to Congress.”

Bristow said one of his top issues is affordability, especially groceries, gas and healthcare. He also cited the state’s inability to pass a new budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year in July 2025 as a concern. He said the education system has been hit particularly hard because proposed budgets included money for teacher raises and school programs, but now that the state is running on last year’s budget, those changes haven’t been made.

According to Bristow, the role of a representative is to provide citizens with a voice on the national level and he believes his career in public service has provided the necessary expertise to carry out this mission.

“I believe in supporting working families, because I’m part of one,” Bristow said. “I’ve worked in law enforcement, which shows my dedication to public service, my dedication to be able to put my life on the line to benefit others and to make real sacrifices. As a representative, I have one job, and that’s to make people’s lives better. That’s what I’ve driven to do my whole adult life.”

Loren Bibler

Loren Bibler has a strong family history of civil service. He said members on both sides of his family served in the military and as school principals, which inspired Bibler to give back to his own community by running for political office. 

“Being a steward of education and being a steward of knowledge in all forms has kind of been a mantra on both sides of my family,” Bibler said. “It’s something I very much want to continue because a well-educated population is a well-informed population.”

Bibler said his campaign is focused on rebuilding and strengthening the middle class, protecting access to affordable healthcare, and regulating artificial intelligence and other new technologies. He believes that AI should be regulated by the federal government and more concern should be shown toward how large language models acquire data, train models and use resources to run data centers. In visits to communities around the district, Bibler also heard that increasing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the state is a concern to voters.

Bibler currently works as a golf course superintendent, and said the career has taught him to effectively manage without being influenced by outside opinions.

“What separates me from the rest of the candidates is my intense stewardship when it comes to pursuing a role,” Bibler said. “As a golf course superintendent, managing stress on the golf course and leaving the property better than when you came, that’s how I know I did a good job. Not necessarily external validation, but knowing that the job was done well and the job was done for the right reasons, and I can take pride in that. I want to work diligently and be that steward for District 9.”

As a younger candidate, Bibler said he knows he may have more difficulty gaining the trust of many voters. He said that as representative, he would strive to speak not only for those who voted for him but everyone in his constituency.

Richard N. Ojeda II

Richard Ojeda, candidate for Democrat nominee of congressional district 9 in North Carolina, spent most of his 24 years with the U.S. Army in Fayetteville, North Carolina at Fort Bragg. He initially retired to West Virginia, where he was raised.

In West Virginia, Ojeda served the community by teaching JROTC classes for high schoolers and assisting with environmental restoration projects.

He also ran and won an election for state senate, representing the 7th district of the West Virginia senate from 2017 to 2019. Even in a super minority, Ojeda said he was able to be successful by appealing to voter issues rather than a certain political party.

“I was able to get things done in southern West Virginia because I know how to push legislation and how to get people to back my bills,” Ojeda said. “It’s about passion. It’s about speaking about the issues and allowing the people to learn about what you’re pushing, because if they support it, they’ll get behind it, regardless of party.”

According to Ojeda, his biggest proposals to improve affordability are to tie minimum wage to the cost of living — for example, if the price of groceries increases, so too will the minimum wage — and to make the first $45,000 earned by an individual each year tax-free. He also plans to advocate for the overturning of Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows companies to spend unlimited and often undisclosed amounts of money on political campaigns, and sign on to the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. 

Between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2025, Ojeda’s campaign raised over $1.4 million, according to election filings from the Federal Election Commission. He believes no other candidate has raised the funds necessary to defeat incumbent representative Richard Hudson in the general election.

“Nobody can even touch this campaign in terms of activity; in terms of boots on the ground, nobody can touch it,” Ojeda said. “Nobody is putting the work in that we’re putting in. And that’s going to matter, because people see that, everywhere that we go.”