Richard Ojeda Takes on MAGA in Deep Red North Carolina

Ojeda, 54, is competing for the Democratic nomination on March 3, with the winner likely facing off against Republican incumbent Richard Hudson in November.

Ojeda served in the Army for 24 years. In his home office in Aberdeen, North Carolina, he’s surrounded by the decorations, patches and commendations he’s received over the years, along with the flags of all the countries he’s been in. He also displays a framed ballot from the first election to take place in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2005.

While living in West Virginia—he was raised in Logan County, West Virginia—Ojeda served in the state Senate, where he garnered notoriety for his vocal support of a teachers strike in 2018. (Ojeda once taught Junior R.O.T.C at a local high school.) Some educators even wore T-shirts with his picture on it.

Though he voted for Donald Trump as a Democrat in 2016, Ojeda quickly turned against Trump. He supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary. He has referred to Trump as “a bone spur draft-dodger” and in July went to Washington to deliver a petition protesting the president’s politicization of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In his recent interview with Barn Raiser, he spoke about his military service, why he decided to move to the Sandhills region of North Carolina, and his plans for beating the odds in a district that Trump won by 16 points in 2024.

Could tell us a little bit about your personal story and how that led you to run for Congress?

I grew up in rural areas in southern West Virginia.

When I graduated high school, I had three choices: dig coal, sell dope or join the army. All of my uncles on one side were coal miners. Feast or famine, I remember them either working, or on the picket line. All of our uncles told us, “Do not follow us into the mines.” So, I chose the military and I learned that if you really work hard, try to do your best, be respectful, you get rewarded for it.

I was a sergeant and my company commander came to me and said he thought I would be a good leader. He put me up for this thing called a Green to Gold scholarship program, and I was allowed to go to college and become an officer. I spent the majority of my military career here at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

I ended up back in West Virginia to be closer to my parents. I became an educator and taught JROTC at the at the high school level. And then got into politics and became a state senator and I got things done in a Republican super majority because I know how to push legislation. The teacher strike that took place in 2018 started from my speech on the floor of the West Virginia state house. We ended up fighting that battle for nine days, and we won it.

But my family and I missed North Carolina, and we wanted to come back home. We ended up here in Aberdeen.

I decided after a few years, with the attacks on our military and our benefits, that it’s time to get back in this fight. And that’s why I am a congressional candidate. It’s about standing up and fighting for the things that we deserve.

You spoke of growing up in West Virginia with many United Mine Worker members and becoming a leading advocate for striking teachers. Since moving back to North Carolina, what have you learned about the current state of unions and working-class people here?

I know that we need to strengthen them. We have wonderful hard-working people here in North, Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. But, this is a right to work state. Ultimately, I would love nothing more than to be able to fight against right-to-work legislation. People deserve the right to unionize. You are better off when you are in a union because you have a voice that’s willing to fight for safety on the job, willing to fight for better pay, willing to fight for equal pay for equal work.

I grew up in a family that had over 200  years combined in United Mine Workers of America. If you look at all of my campaign stuff, it’s all made from union shops. It may cost a little more, but it makes sure that the people making those goods have a payday that keeps their nose above the water line. That’s why I support unions so heartily.

You recently collected almost 90,000 signatures on a petition protesting the Trump administration’s handling of the department of  the Department of Veterans Affairs. You  personally, personally delivered that to the VA headquarters in D.C. What kind reception did you get there?

We need to strengthen our care when it comes to the Veterans Administration. That was the petition about the VA being able to turn you away because your political affiliation. That’s just unacceptable. That sickens me. The fact that somebody would literally try to refuse care to a veteran because of his political views, that’s something we cannot have.

As a vet who uses the VA, what are the biggest threats to the VA’s ability to deliver care to the 9 million enrolled patients under VA secretary Doug Collins?

We should strengthen the VA to make it the very best that we possibly can. Those of us that serve this country, especially in combat, deserve, the absolute best care that we absolutely can get.

I’ll always worry when we have leaders that rattle the sabers of war that you are going to continue sending more people into harm’s way.

You’ve been very outspoken in response to President Trump’s use of active duty military personnel and National Guard on domestic policing missions, especially given that he’s been doing this without congressional approval.

It’s illegal. If you deploy National Guard troops in a state without the governor of California requesting, that it is absolutely going against the Posse Comitatus Act. That’s exactly what they’re doing and they know that they’re wrong, but they don’t care.

This regime is lawless, they think it doesn’t matter: “We’re in power. We can do what we want.” It has the potential to vilify our military. What happens when we have another Kent State? It’s going to turn the very people in this country against those in uniform, and we cannot allow that to happen.

That could impact future enlistment. Young men and women signed up for the National Guard because they want to serve their communities during emergencies and natural disasters.

A lot of people join the military to get out of poverty situations. But let me tell you something, nobody joins the military in the hopes that one day they’re going to be staring down face to face with American citizens. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that would feel like. That is something I would never want to have to do.

In the campaign you are also pointing out that Medicaid cuts in what you call the One Big Bullet Bill will have a big negative impact on rural health care.

When these rural hospitals lose their funding that comes from Medicaid, they’re going to shut down. And when the hospital shuts down, it literally destroys a community that relies on that hospital. Those people have to move to be closer to the health care they need. Between the cuts where Elon Musk fired over 7,000 VA workers, and my opponent  who voted yes on that big horrible bill that is targeting 86,000 more Veteran Administration jobs, that’s not taking care of the veterans, that  the kind of stuff that really bothers me.

You have been highlighting another impact of that legislation,  namely the requirement that starting this past February 1, the  1.2  million vets getting help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—even disabled ones—will  have a work requirement in order to continue qualifying for federal assistance. How has Rep. Hudson defended that entitlement reform?

I don’t know because, you know what? We don’t see him. We don’t hear from him. He does not represent us, not we the people of North Carolina. Nobody sent him to Washington, D.C., to be the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He’s too busy to represent the people of North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District because he’s raising money. He’s the one that told all the Republicans “No more town halls.” You want to know why they say “No more town halls”? Because they’ve got nothing good to say to the people and they’re scared.

Yours is a heavily Republican district. No Democrat has won the district since 1963. What makes you think you can?

Nobody is going to outwork my team. We’re putting boots on the ground everywhere. People are recognizing us. We went to multiple No Kings rallies and the crowds there were very supportive of me. And, by the way, in terms of financial capabilities, we’re raising great money. We out-fundraised Hudson last quarter.

There’s going to be a knockdown drag out fight. But I believe that we have the momentum to be the one standing there in the end.

People are waking up because they’re losing their health care. People are sick and tired about losing their benefits.

What sets you apart from the from the other candidates—Loren Bibler, Nigel Bristow and Lent Carr—who are running for the Democratic primary?

First and foremost—there’s nothing negative here; they’re all very nice men—but I have my team. My team is absolutely amazing. And every single person on my team was with me back in West Virginia, when we almost flipped the 3rd Congressional District from red to blue. We’re working nonstop and we are going to be able to flip the seat from red to blue.

What are some of the key issues facing people in your district right now?

We want to make sure we protect health care. We want to make sure that we strengthen the Veterans Administration, as this area is heavily saturated with veterans. Protecting elderly care. Protecting the schools. I want the middle class to finally be able to feel like they they’ve got a shot in this country.

I would love nothing more than to try make sure that the first $45,000 a person makes every year is tax free, so that people don’t feel that they are being taxed to death. I want to tie the minimum wage to  the price of groceries.

The 9th congressional district contains a fair number of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). What would you say to North Carolina’s family farmers and the residents of rural communities who are concerned about how industrial agriculture is impacting their local economy and the heath of the environment?

Right now, we have farmers who are struggling. 1.2 billions dollars of soybeans come from North Carolina and that market is not happening with tariffs. My focus, when it comes to farming, is what can we do to help these farmers out? The farm is their legacy, and then when a farm goes under, we’ve got people like Vice President J.D. Vance that swoop in and buy the farm out from under them. I’ve never been a farmer, but I’m listening to farmers and they’re worried right now. They deserve better.

Have you been hearing much about the Trump administration’s billion dollar bail out of Argentina?

Trump gave Argentina $40 billion to stabilize its economy, and then Argentina went behind everybody’s back and made a deal with China to sell them soybeans. What do you think that’s going to do to farmers in North Carolina? Their crops are going to die in the field, and a lot of them will not be able to recover from that. That’s unacceptable.

Robert LopezMore by this author →

Robert Lopez is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. Over the past 25 years he has written for a number of publications around the country, including the Houston Chronicle, Indianapolis Star and Charlotte Magazine.