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Republican Ted Budd Wins Re-Election In NC's 13th Congressional District Race

Congressman Ted Budd with his family at a victory party on election night. He thanked supporters during the event, which was held at the historic WinMock barn in Bermuda Run. KERI BROWN/WFDD

An expensive, closely watched race in North Carolina's 13th Congressional district ended up with the Republican incumbent holding on to the seat.

Ted Budd defeated Democratic candidate Kathy Manning, a former immigration attorney and philanthropist from Greensboro. Budd, who is from Advance, owns a gun shop and is involved in The Budd Group, his family's facilities business.

He thanked his supporters during his victory party at the WinMock barn in Davie County. Budd says he plans to stick to his traditional Republican values. He says some of the issues he plans to focus on when he goes back to Washington are helping families address the opioid crisis, more economic growth and health care.

“The voters in North Carolina 13 like record unemployment," he says. "And they want to send people to Congress that will keep fighting to cut taxes, will get government out of the way of small businesses and unleash the economy of the greatest country in the world, and friends, that is the agenda that I'm focused on.”

It was a contentious race between Budd and his Democratic challenger Kathy Manning. Manning held a campaign party at the Greensboro Coliseum. In a speech to supporters, Manning struck a tone of optimism for the future.

This race has shown what's possible when we work together. We've taken a stand. We've sent a message. We have brought people from all across this district together and we have formed a community.”

Budd won the race with 52 percent of the vote in complete, but unofficial results.

The 13th Congressional district stretches across five counties, including parts of Guilford, and all of Davie and Davidson.

The boundaries were redrawn by state legislative leaders in 2016 after a federal court ruled that two of the state's congressional districts were racially gerrymandered.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

WFDD's Sean Bueter also contributed to this story.

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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