Laurie Gaye Moe Buckhout

Current office and 2026 campaign

Laurie Gaye Moe Buckhout is the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District, on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot ¹. She filed on December 19, 2025, listing Edenton, North Carolina as her residence ¹. She won the March 3, 2026 Republican primary with 26,624 of 67,376 votes cast (39.5%), ahead of Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck (23,227), state Sen. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County (10,924), Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse (3,626) and attorney Ashley-Nicole Russell (2,975) ²¹². WUNC reported that she "won the primary over four other candidates, thanks in part to heavy spending by her campaign and outside groups, and received enough votes to avoid a runoff" ⁴. In November she faces Democratic incumbent Don Davis, who was sworn in for his current term on January 3, 2025, and Libertarian Tom Bailey ¹⁵.

President Donald Trump endorsed Buckhout on March 12, 2026, the day before canvass ⁶. "It's an honor to receive the endorsement of President Trump," she wrote on social media. "NC-01 needs an America First fighter. I was proud to serve in President Trump's administration in the Department of War" ⁶. On March 17, 2026, the National Republican Congressional Committee named her one of nine candidates in the first round of its "MAGA Majority" program, the renamed version of the committee's Young Guns program; she had also been part of Young Guns in 2024 ⁷.

The district was redrawn in October 2025. The Center Square reported that state lawmakers moved "six counties from the 3rd Congressional District to the 1st and four from the 1st to the 3rd with a goal of strengthening Republican advantage in the northeastern corner of the state" ⁶; NC Newsline reported that the new map "carved Davis' Snow Hill home out of the district," and noted that congressional candidates are not required to live within their district ⁷.

Her campaign site says she is "focused on implementing the America First Agenda; lowering costs for families, securing the border, strengthening national defense, and restoring accountability in government - putting the people of eastern North Carolina first" ¹³. Reporting on her 2024 campaign, NC Newsline wrote that "[t]hough she has stated that she favors exceptions in some situations, Buckhout describes herself as 'pro-life,' has endorsed the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of the Roe v. Wade ruling and is endorsed by anti-abortion groups," and that she named immigration as her top issue, followed by the economy, energy independence, and support for working families and farmers ³.

Through June 30, 2026, Buckhout's campaign committee (FEC candidate ID H4NC01137, committee C00853499) reported $3,793,077 in total receipts, including $557,047 in individual contributions, $346,704 from other political committees and $2,401,000 in candidate loans, of which $400,000 had been repaid. The committee reported $1,829,661 in cash on hand and $3,501,000 in debts owed ⁸⁹.

Background and education

Buckhout was born in 1961 in Virginia ¹⁰⁷. She grew up in a military family and told NC Newsline she didn't mind the rootlessness that is part of the life of an "Army brat"; she attended James Madison University on an ROTC scholarship and decided to make the Army her career. "As time went by, the idea of service just continued to appeal to me," she said ³. The Archives of Women's Political Communication at Iowa State University lists her degrees as a Bachelor of Science from James Madison University and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences and a Master of Science from Webster University ¹⁰.

Career

ExecutiveGov reports that Buckhout began a 26-year military career in 1984 and retired in 2010; that as commander of the 32nd Signal Battalion she "led over 600 soldiers in combat in Iraq"; and that she served as an action officer within J6 on the Joint Staff, as a presidential communications officer within White House Communications, and most recently as chief of the Army Electronic Warfare Division ¹¹. She retired as a colonel ¹¹³⁴.

Accounts of when she founded her company differ. NC Newsline reported in 2024 that she "retired from the Army in 2010 and founded the Virginia-based cyber security and electronic warfare company Corvus Consulting," and that "[t]he company was sold in 2019" ³. ExecutiveGov reports that she founded Corvus Consulting in 2012 and served as its president and CEO "until it was acquired by Castellum in 2019," after which she worked as Castellum's chief strategist for more than three years ¹¹.

ExecutiveGov also lists her membership on the AFCEA International Cyber Committee and the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, her service on the board of directors of Student Veterans of America and on the 2013 Defense Science Board Summer Study on 21st Century EMS Operations, and roles as president of the Association of Old Crows, senior director of defense business development at TASC, and vice president at Lanmark Technology ¹¹.

The Department of Defense said Buckhout was officially appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy on March 17, 2025, with responsibility for overseeing the department's cyberspace policy and strategy ¹¹. She subsequently held the assistant secretary post in an acting capacity: the Rocky Mount Telegram described the role as "acting assistant secretary of war for cyber policy" ¹², and her campaign site describes it as "Acting Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy" ¹³.

Office history

Buckhout's 2024 run for the same seat was her first campaign for political office ¹⁰. She won the Republican nomination and lost the general election to Davis; certified results were Davis 186,341 votes (49.5%), Buckhout 180,034 (47.8%) and Libertarian Tom Bailey 9,949 (2.6%) ¹⁴¹². NC Newsline described the outcome as a defeat "by 1.7% of the vote" and reported that the 2024 Davis-Buckhout contest was North Carolina's most expensive congressional race for fundraising that cycle ⁷.

Documented disputes and controversies

Her statements about her health, and her decision to run again. The Rocky Mount Telegram reported on December 19, 2025 that Buckhout "was also asked about reports about her health," and that "[a]ccording to media outlets in Edenton, Buckhout reportedly posted on social media that she was not running for Congress again, citing having sustained severe damage to her kidneys from burn pit exposure in Iraq, which she said resulted in frequent infection and her body's inability to filter impurities" ¹². Buckhout told the paper "that she had been put on some incorrect medication, but that other doctors corrected this," said she is feeling great, and added: "One of my platforms is to advocate for veterans. And I will tell you people who want to attack me for a combat injury are the ones who have never been there" ¹². Primary opponent Bobby Hanig's campaign issued a press release "saying voters deserve full and honest context given that Buckhout had publicly stated that her health issues prevented her from running for office," and Hanig asked, "Did her health miraculously improve at the same time the district was redrawn?" ¹². Hanig also called Buckhout "an opportunist" who had not engaged with eastern North Carolina voters since her 2024 loss, and said she had called him the previous week asking him to step aside and offering him her chief of staff role: "And I told her no!" ¹².

Residency and time spent out of state. After the NRCC named Buckhout to its "MAGA Majority" program, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Madison Andrus told NC Newsline: "After fleeing North Carolina with her tail tucked between her legs when Don Davis defeated her two years ago, Laurie Buckhout mistakenly thinks voters are going to forget that she only parachutes into the state to run for office" ⁷. NC Newsline reported in 2024 that property records show Buckhout and her husband bought a house in Edenton in 2021, and that she said the couple had been at Fort Bragg during their military careers and planned to return to North Carolina; she also said they had stayed near the Pentagon after her retirement because her children were in school there ³.

Photographs with Mark Robinson. NC Newsline reported in October 2024 that Buckhout and other Republican candidates were "dealing with the fallout of a CNN report that tied GOP candidate for governor Mark Robinson to anti-Semitic, racists, and sexuality explicit posts on a pornographic website," and that "[p]hotos of Buckhout and Robinson posing together were scrubbed from her X account soon after the bombshell report," though critics continued to post them in replies ³. Asked in late September 2024 whether she would vote for Robinson, Buckhout said, "I'm going to vote down the ticket." Robinson denied posting the comments ³.

Business interests and wealth source

Buckhout's campaign site says that after her military service she "founded and grew a successful cyber and defense business, creating jobs and hiring primarily veterans while supporting America's national security" ¹³. That business, Corvus Consulting, was acquired by Castellum, where she then worked as chief strategist ¹¹³. Federal Election Commission filings for the 2026 cycle show she has loaned her campaign $2,401,000, of which $400,000 had been repaid as of June 30, 2026; the committee reported $3,501,000 in debts owed as of that date ⁹.

Sources