Democrat Kim Hardy of Cumberland County announced on Tuesday she will attempt to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. David Rouzer in the 7th Congressional District in the November 2026 election.
Hardy expressed confidence, even though the 7th District has strongly favored Rouzer and most Republicans since he first won the seat in the 2014 election. “I fully intend to win the Congressional 7th seat,” Hardy told CityView.
The 7th District covers more than three-quarters of the land in Cumberland County and includes much of southeastern North Carolina from Fayetteville to Wilmington, where Rouzer lives.
In 2024, Rouzer won with 58.6% of the vote, to Democrat Marlando D. Pridgen’s 41.4%.
Rouzer’s campaign was contacted on Tuesday for comment on Hardy’s announcement and his reelection plans. As of publication the campaign had not offered any. Federal election donation records show Rouzer has raised campaign funds this year, which suggests he will seek reelection next year.
Hardy is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Fayetteville State University. She is the second vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, and she had unsuccessful campaigns for the state House of Representatives in 2020 and 2022.
She lives in the Linden area of Cumberland County, north of Fayetteville.
Hardy said she’s seeking the 7th District seat because she believes Rouzer is disconnected from the people of southeastern North Carolina. “He is not representing the people and their interests — our interests — at all.”
In her opinion, voters of all partisan leanings, including many of those who voted for President Donald Trump, disagree with Trump’s actions since he returned to office in January, and Rouzer is not standing up for those voters. “He’s not holding the Trump administration accountable for any of the recklessness that’s taking place right now in Congress,” she said.
“I live in a district that is struggling with a lot of different issues, and so we want to have somebody who’s going to go to D.C. and who’s going to fight for us,” she said.
Odds are against Hardy
Political scientist Michael Bitzer of Catawba College said it will be a challenge for a Democratic candidate to win the 7th District.
The Cook Political Report, which analyzes politics and elections, rates the 7th District as “Republican +7,” Bitzer said. That means it strongly favors Republican candidates.
“The Republican districts in the state are generally 55% Republican or higher,” he said. “It would take a really significant Democratic wave to push that anywhere near competitive status, just because the electorate in this state has become what we would refer to as ‘calcified.’
“It’s very locked in. It doesn’t budge very much, unless you have the kind of candidate that Mark Robinson was.”
Robinson, who served one term as lieutenant governor, was the 2024 Republican candidate for governor. Democrat Josh Stein won statewide with 54.9% of the vote, to Robinson’s 40.1%.
Within the boundaries of the 7th District, Democrat Josh Stein led Robinson 54% to 46%, Bitzer told CityView.
Neither Bitzer nor Hardy considered Robinson’s poor performance in the 7th District to be a bellwether for a Democratic win there in 2026.
“We have to take into account that Mark Robinson was just a toxic candidate,” Bitzer said.
Robinson had troubles early in his campaign with a nonprofit organization his wife operated (and that was later ordered to refund more than $100,000 to the government). The Assembly reported in early September that Robinson used to frequent pornography shops. Then CNN reported in September that Robinson had participated in an online pornography forum where he described himself as “a black Nazi” and that he supported the return of slavery.
“Certainly Mark Robinson did not help himself in any way,” Hardy said. “That’s part of a calculus. But the decision to run was made because this is where my family and my friends and my colleagues — this is where we live. This is where we live, work and play, right?
“It matters to me, because it affects me, but it also affects people that I care very much about,” she said. Running would be an extension of her public service as a social worker, she said.
Hardy said she will pursue voters who otherwise might vote Republican and offer them her ear.
“The campaign’s motto is listening, leading, uniting,” she said. “Those are not folks that are ‘unwinnable,’ but you might have to spend some time talking to them, which I never mind doing.”
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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