Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D) Elected July 2004, 1st full term
Born:	April 27, 1947, Wilson
Home:	Wilson
Education:	NC Central U., B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	divorced
Elected  Office:	NC Superior Ct., 1988-2001, 2002-04; NC Sup. Ct., 2001-02.
Military Career:	Army, 1968-70.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1974-88.
DC Office	413 CHOB20515, 202-225-3101; Fax: 202-225-3354; Web site: www.house.gov/butterfield
State Offices	Tarboro, 252-823-0236; Weldon, 252-538-4123; Williamston, 252-789-4939; Wilson, 252-237-9816.
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Eastern North Carolina in colonial days was a smaller version of the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Virginia and Maryland--a fertile land laced by dozens of rivers and inlets, with tobacco plantations and farms with docks on the water accessible to the ocean and so to London. North Carolina was settled later than the Chesapeake colonies, and was poorer, with smaller landholdings. But vestiges of its 18th century past can still be seen in New Bern with its Tryon Palace, the governor's house when this was the capital, and the tiny, well-preserved town of Edenton on Albemarle Sound, where 51 Edenton women in 1774 protested the taxing of tea and cloth--an act considered the first women's political protest on these shores. The historic Albemarle tour features more than 30 sites, including Confederate ironclads.

Today, east Carolina is still tobacco country, and is still largely inhabited by the descendants of the original white settlers and black slaves of 250 years ago. They live in small towns and cities and in some of the most thickly settled rural land in the United States. Tobacco is a labor-intensive crop that for many years produced yields of $4,000 an acre; a family lucky enough to have a tobacco quota could make a living off 40 acres. But anti-smoking campaigns have cut cigarette sales, and tobacco quotas have been cut. In 2004 Congress voted a $10 billion buyout of quota holders, and many old east Carolina tobacco fields are now planted with cucumbers, sweet potatoes, blueberries, and especially cotton. Some fields have gone back to woods; Halifax County is North Carolina's number one deer hunting county. There have been socioeconomic troubles in this region: several of the rural counties have had high HIV infection rates. Several inland counties in northeast North Carolina lost population from 1990 to 2003; Perdue closed a chicken-processing plant, and even fast-food giant Hardee's, founded here in Rocky Mount, decamped to St. Louis.

The 1st Congressional District of North Carolina covers much of the old tobacco country of east Carolina. It touches Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds in the east and juts inland to reach black neighborhoods in Greenville and Goldsboro. Together, the 1st and the 3d blanket the eastern quarter of the state, with intricately drawn boundaries whose fingers reach deep into each other's territory, like hands in a tight embrace. There is a political reason. The 1st is 51% percent black, the highest percentage of any district in the state, and solidly though not overwhelmingly Democratic. The 3d is only 17% black and, with retirees and new residents in fast-growing coastal counties, votes heavily Republican. The 1st is also notable for its unique and curious gender ratio: There are 57,000 more female voters here than male voters--a far greater disparity than in any other congressional district in the state.

The congressman from the 1st District is G.K. (George Kenneth) Butterfield, who won a special election in July 2004 to replace incumbent Frank Ballance, who had announced his retirement after less than one term and then resigned in June 2004; Ballance cited medical problems, but he pleaded guilty five months later to federal fraud charges in the operation of his anti-drug foundation. Butterfield grew up in Wilson County and got his bachelor and law degrees from North Carolina Central University. He handled thousands of civil and criminal cases during 12 years as a superior court judge until February 2001, when Governor Mike Easley appointed him to the state Supreme Court. After Butterfield lost election in 2002 to a full term, Easley appointed him as a special superior court judge. He stepped down from that position in May 2004 to run in the 1st District. But Ballance's resignation accelerated that schedule and forced Butterfield to win two House elections within four months.

In the July special election to fill the remainder of Balance's term, which was held on the same date as the primary, party caucuses selected the nominees, and the six-week contest in this safe Democratic district received little local or national attention. Butterfield said that his priorities would be strengthening the rural economy and halting U.S. job losses. He won 71%-27%, and got Ballance's seats on Agriculture and Small Business, logical assignments for this rural district. In the House, he urged the Federal Communications Commission to move slowly to all-digital cable television. "In poor rural places like eastern North Carolina, this could leave a lot of people in the dark when it comes to watching television," he said. Butterfield also called for an investigation of plans by the Navy to build a landing strip in Washington County for the new F/A-18 Super Hornet jets. In November Butterfield's margin was reduced to a still comfortable 64%-36%; he carried all but one county.

Committees

• Agriculture (11th of 21 D): Conservation, Credit, Rural Development & Research; Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & Forestry; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management.
• Armed Services (26th of 28 D): Readiness; Tactical Air & Land Forces.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	35	75	100	--	100	--	57	0	--	--	--
2003	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	*	--	*		*	--	*
Social	*	--	*		*	--	*
Foreign	*	--	*		*	--	*
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR * 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts * 3. Medicare/Rx Bill * 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers * 6. Ban Human Cloning *		7. Restrict Gun Liability *  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion *  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War * 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	G.K. Butterfield (D)	137,667	64%	$403,957
	Greg Dority (R)	77,508	36%	$39,130
2004 primary	G.K. Butterfield (D)	43,257	71%
	Samuel Davis (D)	7,577	13%
	Christine Fitch (D)	4,301	7%
	Donald Davis (D)	3,296	5%
	Other	2,111	3%
2004 special	G.K. Butterfield (D)	48,567	71%
	Greg Dority (R)	18,491	27%
	Other	1,201	2%
2002 general	Frank Ballance (D)	93,157	64%	$706,687
	Greg Dority (R)	50,907	35%	$12,355
	Other	2,093	1%

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 128,129 (57%) Bush (R) 94,738 (42%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 111,558 (57%) Bush (R) 82,204 (42%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the First District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 9
• District Size: 7,664 square miles
• Population in 2000: 619,178; 47.7% urban; 52.3% rural
• Median Household Income: $28,410; 21.1% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 34.8% blue collar; 45.5% white collar; 19.7% gray collar; 12.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 44.4% White, 50.5% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.7% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.8% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 3.1% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.7% USA, 6.1% English, 3.6% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.