Theodore Paul Budd (born October 21, 1971) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for North Carolina since 2023.

[1] When he was young, his family moved to a 300-acre (120 ha) farm on the Yadkin River in Davie County, outside Advance, where they raise cattle and chickens.

[20] Budd voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and numerous Defense Authorization Spending Bills during the Trump administration.

A third declared candidate, U.S. Representative Mark Walker, said he too would stay in the race, maintaining that he had won a straw poll of those attending the convention.

[37] In the general election, Budd defeated Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

[40] In March 2023, Budd introduced the Seeing Objects at Altitude Regularly Act (SOAR), co-sponsored by Senator Mark Kelly, legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to issue regulations within two years mandating equipping high-altitude balloons operating at 10,000 feet above sea level or higher with tracking systems to transmit location, altitude, and identity.

[42] Committee assignments Caucuses After Senator Lindsey Graham introduced legislation that would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy,[43] Budd co-sponsored a House version of the bill with over 80 Republicans.

[47][48] It contested the results of the 2020 presidential election, in four states, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where Joe Biden defeated[49] incumbent Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by other states.

[50][51][52] On January 6, 2021, Budd was one of 147 Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing an emergency recess of Congress.

Budd said that the bill undermines election integrity by expanding "no excuse" absentee voting and weakening voter ID requirements.

[54] In 2020, Budd voted against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, which would prevent the president from withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan without congressional approval.

[57] In 2022, Budd was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.