WS Chronicle

City Council Member DD Adams lost to longtime incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx on Tuesday night, but she says she’s far from done.

On the night when Democrats took the House, the 5th District still remains red. Adams ran a 22-month campaign across the entire district, which covers parts of 11 northwestern North Carolina counties, including all of Forsyth. Adams, who’s represented the North Ward on the City Council since 2009, said she’s proud of the positive campaign she ran on health care, the economy and education.

“It’s not going to happen over night, but we made some inroads,” said Adams.

Foxx, a former educator in Watauga County, has represented the district since 2005 and was expected to win the heavily Republican district, which she did by more than 14 percent of the vote. Foxx has defeated many Democrats in her long tenure, including former N.C. Sen. Roger Sharpe and School Board Member Elisabeth Motsinger. Josh Brannon, a software developer from Watauga County, challenged her in 2014 and 2016, and lost by nearly 17 percent of the vote the last time.

“The people of the 5th Congressional District spoke, and they made it very clear that they support my track record of fighting for commonsense solutions to the problems we face,” said Foxx in a statement.

Adams said she had to figure out how to run for Congress on the fly and was grateful for all the supporters who helped her campaign. She said she made some mistakes along the way, but will learn from them. She feels she laid groundwork for the future and plans to run for Congress again.

Adams campaigned on top of her responsibilities on the City Council. The following morning after her Watch Party at the Vintage Sofa Bar, she planned to take a 7 a.m. flight to California to participate in a National League of Cities’ summit.

She said she still has work to do on the City Council championing affordable housing, economic development and workforce training.

Adams, a Winston-Salem native, is a graduate of Morgan State University in Baltimore. She retired from Johnson Controls in 2013, after 37 years in manufacturing and management positions.

On the City Council, she’s been an advocate for getting healthy food into food deserts, including the Goler CDC hydroponics facility being built at Kimberley Park. She’s also been vocal on raising city worker pay to competitive rates, which the city has taken steps toward in recent years. She also championed city infrastructure investment, like city bonds and the rehabilitation of the Benton Convention Center.