The congressman from the 7th District is Mike McIntyre, a Democrat first elected in 1996. Like the few remaining white members of his party from the South, he is a centrist and particularly conservative on cultural issues. Read More

The congressman from the 7th District is Mike McIntyre, a Democrat first elected in 1996. Like the few remaining white members of his party from the South, he is a centrist and particularly conservative on cultural issues.

McIntyre grew up in Lumberton, in Robeson County, graduated from college and law school at Chapel Hill, and practiced law in Lumberton, where his family has been prominent for 200 years. As an intern for Democratic Rep. Charlie Rose, he witnessed the Watergate hearings and President Richard Nixon’s resignation speech. Afterward, he told his father that he would like to run for Rose’s seat someday. McIntyre finally got that chance in 1995, when Rose decided to retire.

McIntyre’s chief opposition in the primary was Rose Marie Lowry-Townsend, a Lumbee and a liberal who had support from the National Education Association, labor unions, and national women’s groups. Lowry-Townsend led McIntyre 30%-23% in the primary. In the runoff campaign, McIntyre called for smaller government, cited his close ties to the district, and got a boost from the endorsements of local African-American leaders. He won 52%-48%. In the general election, McIntyre’s platform was almost as conservative as that of his Republican opponent, New Hanover County Commissioner Bill Caster. But McIntyre won 53%-46%.

McIntyre is a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats, and although he has shown a bit more loyalty to his party in recent years, he remains one of the House Democrats most likely to break ranks. In the 111th Congress (2009-10), he compiled a more conservative voting record than fellow North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler. McIntyre came out against most of his party’s other major initiatives, including the health care overhaul and the cap-and-trade bill to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, both of which he said would result in lost jobs. He also voted against repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring openly gay service members and the DREAM Act giving some children of illegal immigrants a potential path to citizenship. In January 2011, in a supreme act of party heresy, he supported Shuler for minority leader over liberal Nancy Pelosi, who won.

McIntyre did support President Barack Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus law, calling it essential to create jobs. And he has supported affirmative action, and opposed government vouchers for private-school tuition. He opposed normal trade relations with China, and he sought to impose a higher tariff on new imports of Caribbean Basin footwear. Converse’s plant west of Lumberton was once the country’s largest shoe factory. On another local issue, McIntyre has sought to break the deadlock in the century-old battle for federal recognition of the Lumbees. In 2011, after earlier attempts failed, he reintroduced his Lumbee Recognition bill, which includes a ban on gambling and gives the state jurisdiction over criminal offenses and civil actions.

In 2011, McIntyre became ranking Democrat on Armed Services’ seapower subcommittee, where he vowed to work on bolstering the Navy’s fleet and air operations. McIntyre voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, but he later criticized the Bush administration for its post-victory planning. More recently, he voted against withdrawing troops in Afghanistan, saying in May 2010 that the plan there “continues to show clear signs of success.”

In this swing district, McIntyre did not face a serious challenge until 2010. His Republican opponent, Ilario Pantano, was a Marine veteran of the Gulf War and Iraq war who won national attention for his book, Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy, about his experience being charged in 2005 with the premeditated murder of two Iraqi prisoners. The case never went to a court martial for lack of evidence. Pantano campaigned as “a hard-core national security hawk” fighting for the “soul of the country.” He was backed by tea party groups and the National Republican Congressional Committee. McIntyre touted his endorsements from the National Rifle Association and National Right to Life Committee, and won, 54%-46%. He lost Brunswick County but easily carried Robeson and narrowly came out ahead in Cumberland and New Hanover counties. With North Carolina’s legislature in GOP hands, he is a focus of redistricting in 2012.