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Ted Budd

U.S. Senate · NC · Republicans · since 2023

also

Candidate for U.S. Senate · NC

Target Ted

Biography

Overview

Ted Budd is a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina, serving since January 2023. A former U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 13th congressional district (2017–2023), Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley in the 2022 Senate race with 50.5% of the vote. He is a businessman who owns a gun store in Rural Hall, North Carolina, and has a background in business administration, theology, and business management.

Career

In the House, Budd was a Freedom Caucus member who supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and defense spending bills while opposing Democratic spending legislation including the American Rescue Plan and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In the Senate, he has introduced legislation on aviation safety (the SOAR Act in March 2023, addressing high-altitude balloon tracking), co-sponsored bills on cybersecurity and social media restrictions, and has been active in foreign policy, visiting Israel in 2024 and voting on defense matters. He voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 along with 30 other Senate Republicans.

Prior political experience

Budd first ran for Congress in 2016, winning the Republican primary with 20% of the vote in a 17-candidate field with support from Club for Growth (which spent $285,000 on his campaign). He defeated Bruce Davis in the general election with 56.1% of the vote. He was reelected in 2018 with 51.5% to Democrat Kathy Manning's 45.8%, and again in 2020 with 68.2% of the vote. In the 2022 Senate race, he won the Republican primary with 58% of the vote, then defeated Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley in the general election with 50.5% to her 47.3%, a margin of 3.2%. He took office as U.S. Senator on January 3, 2023.

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+0.633

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1
+1
-0.077
Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 653 scored votes

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Officeholding history

TermSeatTerm datesTerminationPredecessorSuccessor
1stU.S. Senate NC Class 32023–presentIn progress——
3rdU.S. House NC-132021–2023Term endedTed BuddBrad Knott
2ndU.S. House NC-132019–2021Term endedTed BuddTed Budd
1stU.S. House NC-132017–2019Term ended—Ted Budd

Committee assignments

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term10

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

YearSeatResultVote shareField
——Pending——