By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican representing the 5th District, has filed for re-election.
“I am energized and dedicated to continue working hard to find common-sense solutions to the challenges facing North Carolinians,” Foxx said in a press release. “It is time we implement solutions that solve problems without expanding government and creating more debt that burdens future generations.”
Elisabeth Motsinger, a Democrat and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board member, will run against Foxx.
During her time in Congress, Foxx said she has worked to rein in government spending, reduce the national debt, support energy independence and defend small businesses. As a former small business owner, Foxx said she understands that small businesses are the engine of the economy, and government needs to reduce the bureaucratic burden on businesses so entrepreneurial innovation can put North Carolinians back to work.
“The simple truth is that our government has gotten too big, too intrusive and too expensive,” she said. “We need to put the federal government on a diet and return to the limited federal government our founders envisioned.”
Foxx is considered one of the most conservative members of Congress. The “National Journal” magazine ranked her the most conservative member of the N.C. Congressional delegation and more conservative than 91.3 percent of all House members.
She was one of 38 Republicans to score a 100 percent approval rating from the American Conservative Union.
For the first time, Rowan County is part of the newly drawn 5th District, which encompasses about a third of Rowan north of Salisbury. The 12th Congressional District splits the county in the middle, and the 8th District takes in southern Rowan.
After redistricting by the N.C. General Assembly, the 5th District also includes all of Alexander, Ashe, Alleghany, Davie, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties, as well as parts of Catawba, Davidson, Forsyth and Iredell counties.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.

Virginia Foxx
Office sought: U.S. House of Representatives, 5th district
Age: 68
Address: 11468 Highway 105 South. Campaign office: P.O. Box 1100 Clemmons, N.C. 27012
Phone number: Boone office 828-265-0240, Clemmons office 336-778-0211, Washington D.C. office 202-225-2071, campaign office 336-499-1947
Party: Republican
Occupation: Congresswoman. Prior to entering Congress, Foxx and her husband owned a nursery business in Watauga County
Education: Graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received A.B. degree in English and M.A.C.T. in sociology. Earned an Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching/higher education from UNC-Greensboro
Previous elected office: Three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, 10 years in the N.C. Senate
Community involvement: Gardening, lay leader in church, family time 
Family: Husband Tom Foxx, daughter Theresa and two grandchildren