The Fourth Congressional District of North Carolina lies in the high-tech woodlands of the Tar Heel Piedmont. Affluent and liberal, NC-04 elected progressive Congressman David Price to the United States House for over 35 years. Price, a distinguished academic before entering politics, grew into a local political legend. Even the most strident conservatives in North Carolina respected Price for his integrity and unimpeachable dedication to serving his district and his state. Late last year, he announced his retirement.

District four has long stood out from the rest of the state. Going back to the Founding of the republic, North Carolinians in this area often voted in ways that departed from the consensus which held elsewhere in this Southern state. In the days of the First Party System, district four consistently supported the Federalist Party in a state that was staunchly Jeffersonian. Years later, when North Carolina buckled under the Redeemers’ assault on democracy, the fourth district elected white populists more in line with the Fusion government that briefly, heroically tried to make the state a democracy. Noteworthy about the district’s historic affinities is that inland districts like this one rarely supported Federalists, and that the district’s Populist voters scarcely resembled the raging farmers who composed the backbone of that short-lived political insurgency.

State government’s stampede to the far right left the fourth district entirely untouched. As Repubicans on Jones Street rammed through hideous legislation, one was more likely to see bumper stickers attesting to the driver’s support for Moral Monday than any expression of sympathy for right-wing bulldozer specialists like Senator Phil Berger. Accordingly, Republicans representing the state’s angry Trumper hollows rarely hid their hostility to district four and its latte-sipping progressives (unless said progressives passed on lattes due to the scourge of empty calories).

Now the district is preparing to hold its first serious primary campaign since Rep. Price began his distinguished career in the 1980s. Generally, political observers consider three contenders to be viable. Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is running on a potently left-wing platform, emphasizing endorsements from leftist icons like Sen. Elizabeth Warren. From Orange County comes state Senator Val Foushee, a liberal with extensive establishment ties. And former American Idol and Celebrity Apprentice star Clay Aiken seems determined to make things interesting.

All three of the race’s frontrunners reflect the district’s proclivities in some way or another. Allam is very left-wing, as are large numbers of district voters in places like Carrboro and Durham. Foushee’s liberal credentials are beyond question, and she would be the first Black person to represent a district that prides itself on its civil-rights history. Aiken would be the first gay congressperson from the South. Thus, the race is hard to handicap. Any of the three frontrunners could emerge from the primary as David Price’s heir apparent. A credible lower-tier candidate could surprise observers with a lightning-in-a-bottle upset victory, though that seems unlikely to me.

To the extent that North Carolina differs from other parts of the South, that distinction comes first and foremost from places like the Fourth District. Other Southern regions have nurtured intellectual traditions at times; for example, Louisiana State University was an intellectual powerhouse during the reign of Huey Long. But the centuries-old progressive streak that has defined district-four politics ever since its voters rejected the minimal-government Jeffersonians should make North Carolinians proud, even if little else about the state’s recent political history inspires anything but shame. Best of luck to the candidates in this important race.