Laurie Buckhout is a Virginia native who lives in Edenton, NC. She holds an undergraduate degree from James Madison University and a graduate degree from Webster University. Buckhout is a retired Army colonel and founder of Corvus Consulting. She is married and has two sons.
Candidate Q&A
NC Health News reached out to Laurie Buckhout’s campaign multiple times — including emailing, calling, DMing on Facebook, X and other social media accounts and texting — looking for answers to our list of questions and received no response. To give readers information, we combed the internet and social media for statements by Laurie Buckhout and material from Buckhout’s official website that could address the themes in our questions. Unfortunately, we were not able to find material to answer every question.
According to information provided by Laurie Buckhout’s campaign website, she supports gun rights, a strong military, a secure border, limited government spending and advocates for veterans.
What do you see as the biggest financial and administrative challenge to implementing the work requirements for Medicaid that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill?
At the midterm Republican convention, Buckhout criticized Davis’ vote against H.R. 1, then said, “Then days later, Davis put out a press release bragging about over $200 million in health care funding that came from the bill that he tried to kill.”
At a rally in Gastonia, Buckhout thanked President Donald Trump for, “making us healthy.”
Buckhout has expressed support for H.R. 1, otherwise known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. She has praised the bill’s tax provisions on social media, according to the News & Observer. At the Republican convention in August, she criticized Don Davis for voting against the bill.
What would be your plan for ensuring the future security/strength of Social Security and Medicare?
On Aug 30, Buckhout posted a short exchange with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Mehmet Oz, on the social media platform X:
“I really enjoyed the chance to chat with @DrOz on Friday about the work he’s doing to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in our health care system and make sure taxpayers actually know where their hard-earned money is going.
Taxpayers want accountability, They’re tired of the waste fraud and abuse in the system, they’re tired of the corruption and they want to be accountable for where their tax dollars are going.”
But Buckhout did not make specific policy recommendations.
What would you support in Congress as a plan to help control health care/ pharmaceutical costs?
Could not discern from the public record.
What steps would you take to improve access to health care in rural areas? How do we make the Rural Health Transformation Program successful in North Carolina?
In an interview with conservative radio host Henry Hinton on Sept. 28, Buckhout said,” Martin County General Hospital closed under Don Davis. Under Don Davis. And I think it was getting ready to close under Joe Biden. So, bottom line is, we have nothing to do with that hospital closure and I’m very committed to health care itself.
“We are the party of working families now,” she said.
On her website, it says that “Eastern North Carolina families need a champion for lower costs, better jobs, a stronger economy and lower health care costs. However, her site does not lay out specific health policy proposals.
In a X post from August 15, Buckhout wrote:
Ended yesterday with a walkthrough of Engelhard Medical Center, one of three primary care centers serving Hyde and Dare counties, with additional locations in Ocracoke and Manteo. Together, these centers serve nearly 4,000 patients each year across Hyde, Dare, and the surrounding communities. Rural health care comes with unique challenges, from access to care to recruiting medical professionals, and the team at Engelhard is working every day to meet those challenges and make sure families in Eastern North Carolina can get the care they need close to home. I’m grateful for the opportunity to see their work firsthand and hear more about what our rural communities need to build a stronger health care system.
In a later post on the same platform, she made the claim that the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, the law that created the Rural Health Transformation Program is ‘already making a difference in rural America, with nearly 500 more health care facilities now serving rural and low-income communities.”
According to KFF the health policy research group, “While the fund emerged in response to concerns about the impact of the reconciliation law on rural hospitals, the extent to which it will benefit these facilities is unclear.
“Of the dollars going to rural hospitals, it is not yet clear which specific facilities will receive funding and the extent to which states will target resources to particular types of hospitals, such as those that are isolated or in financial distress. Additionally, hospitals that are not in rural areas can also receive funding, as long as it is to the benefit of rural communities and residents.”
The rollout of AI is moving fast, including in health care, and leaders in that space are calling for things to slow down. What federal moves should be taken to regulate it, if at all?
Could not discern from the public record.
Where do you stand on federal vaccine policy? What should be done to prevent future disease outbreaks?
Could not discern from the public record.
We’ve had some high-profile food contamination outbreaks, yet the federal government is pulling back on regulation of food, air and water. What level of federal regulation do you support and why?
In an X post, Buckhout touted a Texas burger chain that cooks french fries in beef tallow, saying “American families should have access to healthy, natural, high-quality food at a price they can afford. In Congress, I’ll fight for our farmers and for better, more affordable food on American tables.”x
PFAS contamination is a nationwide issue; how do you address it while balancing public safety and business interests?
Could not discern from the public record.
The building and placement of data centers have become a big issue, particularly in many rural communities. What should be the federal government’s role, if any, in how these are developed?
Could not discern from the public record.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Buckhout’s mother was a flight nurse who served in World War II. On her website and in appearances,, she says veterans deserve the best care when their mission is over and that she will not rest until they get the care they deserve.
In mid-2025, the Albemarle Observer reported, that Buckhout had posted on social media that she was not running again due to “severe damage to my kidneys from burn pit exposure in Iraq. It results in frequent infections and the body’s inability to filter impurities. I can no longer handle hot weather and adverse conditions, and although some wonderful people have asked me to run again, I think a public servant needs to be fit to serve. I had a couple of serious health incidents during my own campaign last year, and I realized I would not be able to do it again.”
However, after the district was changed by the legislature later that year, she threw her hat into the ring, saying that she had been treated successfully and was feeling up to running.
She told Spectrum News in 2024 that she opposed abortion, but beleves in exceptions for rape, incest and particularly for the health of the mother. But she also said she believes it’s being handled by the states right now.
She said that in terms of federal restrictions on choice, Buckhout told Spectrum that,”we aren’t there yet,” and that the states are “handling it well.”
During that interview, Buckhout told Spectrum that part of her desire to run had to do with the opioid crisis. “There’s a mental health crisis in America right now, there are drug crises in America right now, and it breaks my heart to see that,” she said. “ I want to return to an America where people feel free to live as they please.”
“This district has been ignored for too many years. It’s the poorest district in North Carolina, we need to be taking care of working families,” she said.
More recently, Buckhout has accused Davis of having an “extreme left agenda.”
“When fentanyl was pouring across an open border into our towns and into my district and Congress needed to shut it down, Don Davis voted no, because Hakim Jeffries told him to,” Buckhout told a rally in Gastonia in September.
Here is what Buckhout has said in the past on climate change.
“I think any efforts to address climate change must be realistic. The Biden administration forcing automobile manufacturers to produce electric vehicles that most folks in NC-1 can’t afford or can’t use is not the answer.”
Buckhout supports limited government, according to a statement in an article that appeared on the Neuse News website (Jan. 2024). In the article, she emphasizes the need for fiscal responsibility and criticizes government spending and excessive regulation.
“Everyone’s crazy to legislate, legislate, legislate,” she said. “Remember Ronald Reagan, deregulate, deregulate capitalism. A country flourishes best with the least regulation of capitalism. Government doesn’t build jobs. You build jobs.”
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