Rep. Virginia Foxx (R) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	June 29, 1943, Bronx, NY
Home:	Banner Elk
Education:	U. of NC, A.B. 1968, M.A.C.T. 1972, U. of NC-Greensboro, Ed.D. 1985
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Thomas)
Elected  Office:	Watauga Bd. of Ed., 1976-88; NC Senate, 1994-2004.
Professional Career:	Owner, Grandfather Mountain Nursery, 1976-present; Asst. Dean of General College, Appalachian St. U., 1976-1984; Pres. Mayland CC, 1987-1994.
DC Office	503 CHOB20515, 202-225-2071; Fax: 202-225-2995; Web site: www.house.gov/foxx
State Offices	Clemmons, 336-778-0173.
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From the Atlantic Ocean, the terrain of North Carolina rises slowly through the Piedmont--a transitional land of modest hills that lies between the coastal plain and the Blue Ridge mountains. The Blue Ridge, named for the mysterious blue haze that blankets it, provides the headwaters of the New River, which cuts majestic crevasses--alternately lush and mined-out--as it flows north to West Virginia. The lower Piedmont lands of North Carolina were first settled by independent-minded Scots-Irish farmers and by followers of British and German sects like the Moravians. This was hardscrabble farm country at the time of the Civil War, with few slaves. By the late 19th century, it was becoming industrialized, with textile mills alongside streams, furniture factories not far from hardwood forests and R. J. Reynolds's cigarette factories in Winston-Salem. The Piedmont economy was hailed as the basis of a progressive New South, although textile mills paid low wages and tobacco employed fewer workers. Now, as both of those industries continue to shut down jobs and the rural counties lose population, lots of complaints are heard, even though North Carolina has been attracting new and growing businesses.

North Carolina's present-day affluence owes more to pharmaceuticals, banking and high-skill Piedmont factories. Lowe's, the $31 billion home improvement giant, is based in little Wilkesboro, population 3,000. Dell plans to build a computer-assembly plant in the area. The 2001 merger of banking giants Wachovia and First Union proved bittersweet for Winston-Salem, Wachovia's home base since 1879: First Union, the larger of the two entities, let the new company keep Wachovia's name but shifted its headquarters to First Union's building in Charlotte. Yet for all the economic progress here, large swaths of the region remain rural, from chicken-raising Wilkes County to Appalachian State University in Boone, a key center for resurgent pride in the culture of Appalachia, a region toward which the rest of America has so often displayed condescension. This was one of the birthplaces of stock car racing, but the old track at North Wilkesboro no longer has major NASCAR events.

All these places lie within the boundaries of the 5th Congressional District. The 5th begins in the heart of the Piedmont: The suburbs of Winston-Salem (though not the city, which is in the 12th). From there, it drops south just short of the outer fringes of metropolitan Charlotte; then heads west and north to the Tennessee line, taking in mountain communities like Boone. When legislators drew a new 13th District along the state's northern tier, they pushed today's 5th much farther west than it had reached during the 1990s. Still, the core of its population base remains much the same: The Winston-Salem suburbs in Forsyth County, plus small industrial cities in Stokes and Surry Counties, including Mount Airy, the model for Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show. The district is solidly Republican.

The congresswoman from the 5th District is Virginia Foxx, a Republican who won a fiercely contested Republican primary in 2004 and replaced Richard Burr, who was elected to the Senate. She graduated from the University of North Carolina and had a diverse professional and political background before winning election to Congress at age 61. She owned a nursery and landscape company and taught sociology and was assistant dean of the General College at Appalachian State University; later, she became president of Mayland Community College. She served 12 years on the Board of Education of Watauga County, on the western edge of the district (nearly as close to Knoxville as to Winston-Salem), and in 1994 was elected to the state Senate. In the legislature she sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and a bill to deny Social Security to illegal aliens. She actively supported gun rights and home schools, and opposed abortion rights.

Foxx was one of eight candidates in the Republican primary, five of whom ran serious campaigns; collectively they spent more than $6 million. Ed Broyhill, the son of former 10th District Congressman and Senator James Broyhill, started off as the early front-runner and spent $1.2 million of his own money. Broyhill was endorsed by his father's onetime colleague Jesse Helms, but was hurt by stories about business reverses. Aggressively on the attack was Winston-Salem Councilman Vernon Robinson, a retired Air Force officer, who campaigned as a staunch conservative, "the black Jesse Helms," as he put it. He was supported by Jack Kemp and raised impressive sums on the Internet from all over the country. Robinson finished first in the July primary, with 24% of the vote. Foxx unexpectedly finished second, with 22%, just 511 votes ahead of Broyhill. Foxx had big leads in three mountain counties in her home area; Robinson carried Forsyth County, where 35% of the votes were cast, and one adjacent county; Broyhill carried counties adjacent to his father's old House seat.

The four-week campaign for the August runoff was heatedly contested. Robinson said that Foxx was "fighting the cultural war on the wrong side." Robinson aired several controversial ads targeting his tougher position on illegal aliens (which cost him Kemp's support); Foxx said she supported stricter immigration laws. Foxx warned voters that Robinson's aggressive style would make him a weak general election candidate who could lose, although that seemed unlikely in a district that voted 66% for George W. Bush in 2000. Foxx won 55%-45%, with between 73% and 82% in her home area in the three mountain counties. Robinson carried Forsyth County, which cast 40% of the vote, but by only 38 votes; he also carried Stokes and Rockingham Counties north of Winston-Salem and Alexander and Iredell Counties to the southwest. Mountain Republicans evidently rejected Robinson not because he was black but because of a long coolness toward Jesse Helms's brand of Republicanism.

Some Democrats argued that the general election would be close because of the local appeal of vice presidential nominee John Edwards. But the Kerry-Edwards ticket won none of the counties in the district, and Foxx won 59%-41%. In the House, her committee assignments seemed a good fit for her district and personal background: Agriculture, Government Reform, Education and the Workforce.

Committees

• Agriculture (22d of 25 R): Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & Forestry; Livestock & Horticulture; Specialty Crops & Foreign Agriculture Programs.
• Education & the Workforce (25th of 27 R): 21st Century Competitiveness; Employer-Employee Relations.
• Government Reform (22d of 23 R): Criminal Justice, Drug Policy & Human Resources; Federalism & the Census; Government Management, Finance & Accountability (Vice Chmn.).

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Virginia Foxx (R)	167,546	59%	$1,182,132
	Jim Harrell (D)	117,271	41%	$383,579
2004 runoff	Virginia Foxx (R)	23,092	55%
	Vernon Robinson (R)	19,201	45%
2004 primary	Vernon Robinson (R)	13,824	24%
	Virginia Foxx (R)	13,119	22%
	Ed Broyhill (R)	12,608	22%
	Jay Helvey (R)	8,517	15%
	Nathan Tabor (R)	7,660	13%
	Other	2,899	5%
2002 general	Richard Burr (R)	137,879	70%	$420,600
	David Crawford (D)	58,558	30%	$12,311

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 191,034 (66%) Kerry (D) 95,811 (33%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 163,705 (66%) Gore (D) 81,704 (33%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fifth 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: R +15
• District Size: 4,424 square miles
• Population in 2000: 619,178; 42.9% urban; 57.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $39,710; 9.5% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 33.2% blue collar; 54.1% white collar; 12.7% gray collar; 12.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 87.9% White, 6.7% Black, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.7% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 3.6% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 15.7% USA, 9.9% English, 9.5% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.