Active in politics for many years, Hudson served as district director for 8th District Congressman Robin Hayes[4] from 1999 to 2005.[5] At various times, he served on the staffs of Republicans Virginia Foxx, John Carter and Mike Conaway.[5] He also served as communications director for the North Carolina Republican Party in the mid-1990s.[1] In 1996 he worked on Richard Vinroot's campaign for governor, and in 2008 as campaign manager for Pat McCrory's run for governor.[1] Hudson was the president of Cabarrus Marketing Group, a small business consulting and marketing company he started in 2011 and dissolved upon his election to Congress.[6]
Hudson ran for Congress in North Carolina's 8th congressional district. He won the July 17 Republican primary runoff with 64% of the vote against Scott Keadle[7] and faced Democratic incumbent Larry Kissell in November. The district had been made significantly more Republican in redistricting, losing most of its share of Charlotte and picking up several heavily Republican areas northeast of the city.
At a primary campaign event in April 2012, Hudson told a Tea Party group, "there's no question President Obama is hiding something on his citizenship."[8] He later apologized for his comments and said he accepted that Obama was born in the United States.[9]
In 2016, Hudson was challenged by Tim D'Annunzio in the primary election. He won with 64.6% of the vote to D'Annunzio's 35.4%. In the general election, Hudson defeated Democrat Thomas Mills 58.8%–41.2%.
At the beginning of the 116th Congress, Hudson was assigned to the Committee on Energy and Commerce,[16] Subcommittee on Energy,[17] Subcommittee on Health[18] and Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.[19]
According to The Sandhills Sentinel, Hudson holds a conservative position on gun control, opposes abortion, and has been "a leading advocate of opioid reform."[22]
On January 6, 2021, Hudson was one of 147 Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election after a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and forced an emergency recess of Congress.[31] On May 19, 2021, Hudson and all seven other House Republican leaders voted against establishing a national commission to investigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol Complex.[32] Thirty-five Republican House members and all 217 Democrats present voted to establish such a commission.[33]
Policy positions
Hudson supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying, "At a time of grave security threats, President Trump is right to pause the flow of refugees from countries where terrorism is rampant until we can properly vet them and implement additional screening for individuals traveling to and from these countries."[34]
Hudson supports Israel's right to defend itself. In 2023, he voted with an overwhelming bipartisan majority to provide Israel with whatever support is necessary in the "barbaric war" in Gaza started by Hamas and other organization following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.[36][37]
