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Deborah K. Ross

U.S. House · NC-2 · Democrats · since 2025

also

Candidate for U.S. House · NC-2

Target Deborah

Biography

Overview

Deborah K. Ross is a Democratic U.S. Representative from North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, serving since 2021. Based in Raleigh, she is a lawyer who previously served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013 and worked as state director for the ACLU of North Carolina. She ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2016, losing to Republican incumbent Richard Burr.

Career

Ross has championed criminal justice reform, including work on juvenile justice overhaul while at the ACLU, and has sponsored bills on prison gerrymandering and clean slate laws for criminal records. She supported major Democratic legislative initiatives including the American Rescue Plan Act (expanding child tax credits), Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. She has advocated for energy efficiency and climate-related protections, particularly regarding coastal flooding and sea-level rise risks.

Prior political experience

Ross was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020, winning the Democratic primary on March 3 and the general election on November 3 against Republican Alan Swain and Libertarian Jeff Matemu. Her district was redrawn in 2019 as a safely Democratic district; had the new boundaries existed in 2016, Hillary Clinton would have carried it with 60% of the vote. Prior to Congress, Ross was elected to the North Carolina House in 2002, won re-election in 2004, ran unopposed in 2006, and was elected House Democratic Whip in 2007. In 2016, she won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate with 62.4% of the vote but lost the general election to incumbent Richard Burr 51% to 45%.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal
Conservative
119th Congress-0.383

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.001
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 345 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
3rdU.S. House NC-22025–presentIn progressDeborah K. Ross—
2ndU.S. House NC-22023–2025Term endedDeborah K. RossDeborah K. Ross
1stU.S. House NC-22021–2023Term ended—Deborah K. Ross

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
——Pending——