Welcome to part 2 of our ‘Tar Heel Chain’ series, where our two-month reporting reveals how three freshman congressmen are systematically positioning North Carolina as America’s dominant force in the digital economy.

“We are here to change the trajectory,” Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-14) told me during our interview at his Longworth congressional office, his voice carrying the conviction of someone who understands exactly what’s at stake. “AI dominance is literally the ballgame moving forward.”

Harrigan is one of three freshman Republican congressmen who arrived in Washington D.C. in January 2025 with an unprecedented vision: to forge North Carolina into the industrial backbone of America’s digital dominance. Along with Tim Moore (NC-14), the state’s longest-serving House Speaker, and Addison McDowell (NC-06), a 31-year-old conservative voice, they bring something rare to D.C. —practical, state-level experience governing the future of the digital economy.

After two months of interviews across Washington D.C., Raleigh, and small towns throughout North Carolina, I’ve discovered their confidence isn’t misplaced.

North Carolina closed 2024 with $15.2 billion in new capital investment and ranks number one for business according to CNBC. Amazon committed $10 billion to state data center development, while deep in the Appalachian mountains near Spruce Pine, companies extract the ultra-pure quartz essential for manufacturing the AI chips that power everything from smartphones to data centers.

But what I found in these conversations goes beyond infrastructure investment. North Carolina’s political leadership is systematically converting potential into strategic advantage through deliberate policy construction and institutional vision.

They’re crafting policy to build the infrastructure that powers Silicon Valley.

The Financial Architect

When I asked him what drove the transition from longest-serving North Carolina House Speaker to freshman congressman, Moore’s answer revealed the personal conviction behind his policy positions. “I saw the success we had had in North Carolina, turning our state around, and saw the struggle that was happening at the federal level,” he told me, leaning forward slightly. After 22 years in the state legislature, he was ready to take that proven blueprint to Washington.

Congressman Tim Moore (NC-R) & Alejandro Navia in Washington D.C.

Congressman Tim Moore leaned back in his Capitol Hill office chair, UNC colors tie, speaking with the institutional authority of someone who had just spent a decade reshaping an entire state’s approach to emerging technology. His response came with the precision of a policy architect who had already proven his blueprint could work.

“A third of Americans own or use cryptocurrency in some form or another,” Moore told me during our interview, the late afternoon light filtering through his office windows as members rushed between votes during Crypto Week. “We’re not talking about some fringe thing. We’re talking about a form of currency that people are using today by a significant amount.”

The conversation felt less like a typical freshman congressman interview and more like strategic insights from someone who had already delivered results at scale. Moore’s path from North Carolina House Speaker to federal cryptocurrency champion reflects the state’s own evolution into a digital assets leader, and his personal conviction runs deeper than policy positions.

When I tested that conviction with a lighthearted question (lifetime Tar Heel basketball tickets or three Bitcoins) he didn’t hesitate. “Three Bitcoin,” he said immediately, adding with a laugh, “Give me the Bitcoin, I can buy the tickets.”

The response revealed someone who genuinely believes in the technology he’s championing and understands the broader principles at stake. “If somebody goes and uses cash, big brother isn’t watching how you spend every dime,” Moore explained when I pressed him on the privacy implications. “There’s no reason to treat cryptocurrency and digital assets that way.”

That belief translated into decisive action during his final months as Speaker. When Moore overrode Governor Cooper’s veto of the anti-CBDC legislation in 2024, one of his last acts as the longest-serving Speaker in state history, he cemented North Carolina as a national leader in financial sovereignty protection.

The regulatory sandbox legislation he had championed earlier now serves as a template for federal policy, making North Carolina one of the first states to create legal frameworks for digital asset businesses, attracting multiple cryptocurrency companies to the state.

Moore’s approach to federal crypto legislation reflects the same pragmatic incrementalism that marked his decade as Speaker. “It’s all incrementalism,” he told me during our conversation, explaining his strategy for the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and Anti-CBDC bills moving through Congress during Crypto Week. Rather than pursuing sweeping changes, he’s co-sponsoring targeted legislation that builds consensus.

This momentum continues back home through the work Moore set in motion. The North Carolina House passed House Bill 92 in May 2025, the Digital Assets Investment Act, allowing State Treasurer Brad Briner to invest up to 5 percent of the state’s $127 billion pension fund in cryptocurrency ETFs. A companion bill, Senate Bill 327, designed to go further by authorizing up to 10 percent investment in Bitcoin and establishing a formal Bitcoin reserve for the state, awaits advancement by State Senator Phil Berger.

“We passed the regulatory sandbox legislation in the state when I was still speaker, and worked through that to make our state laws in such a way that we would be attractive to digital asset space,” Moore explained, positioning North Carolina’s approach as a federal template he’s now working to implement nationally.

But Moore’s vision extends beyond financial policy to the physical infrastructure powering North Carolina’s digital economy. During our conversation, he became animated discussing what he sees as the biggest challenge facing the state’s tech ambitions: energy production.

“The big challenge that we and so many other states have right now is producing enough power to power these facilities,” he said, whether for data centers or AI operations. His solution involves small modular reactors (SMRs), a technology he believes will be “the way of the future” for powering the digital economy while maintaining his “all of the above” energy philosophy that balances cost-effectiveness with reliability.

Unlike traditional nuclear plants that can take decades to build and cost billions, SMRs are factory-built units roughly the size of shipping containers that can be deployed in 2-3 years. They generate 50-300 megawatts each, enough to power a mid-sized city or multiple data centers, while maintaining the same safety standards as larger reactors.

Moore’s confidence in North Carolina’s approach extends to his congressional colleagues. When I asked which member of the North Carolina delegation he’d trust with the private keys to a state Bitcoin wallet, he didn’t hesitate: “There’s really no one in our delegation that I wouldn’t trust.”

The response reflected someone who sees cryptocurrency policy not as a partisan issue, but as an economic development opportunity the entire state delegation can unite behind.

The Soldier-Strategist

Harrigan’s motivation for entering politics runs much deeper than business success.

The catalyst was personal and immediate: Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a former Special Forces operator who had served two deployments, watching the abandonment of American allies and the botched evacuation that cost 13 American service members their lives was a breaking point. “I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines anymore,” he explained, describing how the withdrawal convinced him that his military experience was desperately needed in Washington.

In his mahogany-paneled office, Congressman Pat Harrigan sat confidently with the intensity of someone delivering a strategic briefing. A West Point graduate with a degree in nuclear engineering and former Special Forces operator turned successful firearms manufacturer demonstrates a rare combination of technical expertise and practical business experience.

Yet his Soldier-Strategist persona is balanced by a disciplined commitment to his family. “Every evening, at eight o’clock, we read a chapter of a Nancy Drew book,” he told me, describing his nightly FaceTime ritual with his two daughters. “I want them to hear my voice every single night. I want them to be intellectually engaged in a story line.”

What struck me during our conversation was how incredibly well-spoken and nuanced he was. His knowledge was both broad and deep, demonstrating a dynamic command of the technical and geopolitical implications of every policy decision. A rarity for any elected official, let alone a freshman.

Harrigan’s critique of American defense spending reflects someone who recognizes that the next great power competition will be won with algorithms and semiconductors as much as missiles and drones.

Congressman Pat Harrigan giving an interview inside the Capitol

“The investments that we’ve been making on behalf of the American people in Congress over the last 30 years are largely falling flat,” he said bluntly. “We haven’t won a war in our last 30 years, and we have to take an honest assessment of the investments that we have made and ask, are those investments truly helping us deter China or potentially defeat China in a future conflict.”

His answer lies in redirecting defense spending toward dual-use technologies like AI, quantum computing, drones and advanced manufacturing that serve both national security and economic competitiveness. Rather than continuing to fund legacy systems, America needs to dominate the technologies that will define 21st-century warfare.

The conversation felt like being briefed by someone who understood both the technical requirements and the policy implications of every decision.

AI dominance is literally the ballgame moving forward.
Congressman Pat Harrigan

Harrigan’s vision for North Carolina’s digital economy advantage is rooted in infrastructure reality. “When you look at North Carolina and you look at 40 going across, when you look at 95 when you look at 77 fiber is tracing every single one of those highways,” he explained, describing why major tech companies have chosen the state. “There’s no question as to why, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, they all have massive data center investments in North Carolina, and those are only going to increase over the next seven to 10 years by a factor of three to five.”

His unique vision lies in connecting defense modernization to North Carolina’s booming technology sector. His advocacy for small modular reactors creates opportunities for public-private partnerships around the state’s massive military installations: Camp Lejeune, Fort Bragg, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base among them.

“We led the language for small modular reactors and micro reactors, moving those capabilities and the technology onto our military installations through this year’s NDAA,” he told me. What this means for North Carolina, he explained, is that the state’s massive military installations could become sites for testing this technology while creating opportunities for public-private partnerships with data center developers.

The strategic implications of Harrigan’s vision extend far beyond energy policy. By deploying SMRs on military installations to power adjacent data centers, North Carolina could create secure computing infrastructure for national security applications while attracting private sector investment.

“You can put those data centers right on the periphery of the base, if you have that power generation,” Harrigan elaborated, describing how the security and reliability of military installations could make them ideal locations for the computing infrastructure that both defense applications and commercial AI development demand. “With the safety and the surety that comes with operating that (infrastructure) on a military installation, but you get that public-private partnership around those military bases simultaneously, while not taking up from the existing power grid.”

The approach addresses multiple national security concerns at once. Rather than relying on civilian power grids that face increasing strain from data center demand, military-based SMRs would create isolated, secure power generation specifically designed for high-priority computing applications. The model also keeps sensitive AI research and defense-related data processing within controlled military environments while allowing private sector efficiency and innovation.

The Next Generation Voice

When I asked Congressman Addison McDowell why he decided to run for office, his answer cut straight to the heart of his mission. “I lost my little brother to a fentanyl poisoning,” he told me from his Capitol Hill office, decorated with trophy animals, a NASCAR hood, and family photos. “The border had been a tremendous issue in this election cycle, and I believed that President Trump is the only president that we’ve had, at least in my lifetime, that’s really taken the border seriously.”

The loss of his brother provides moral authority on border security, but it also shapes his approach to digital economy policy: ensuring North Carolina’s technological advancement serves families like his own.

Alejandro Navia & Congressman Addison McDowell (NC-R)

His path to Congress wasn’t typical for someone his age. “I actually worked for Senator Budd when he was in the house,” he told me, explaining how that front-row seat shaped his understanding of effective representation. “I saw how he represented this district very well.” It was during Budd’s time on the Financial Services Committee that McDowell deepened his understanding of blockchain and digital assets as they gained momentum in Washington, building on his initial curiosity sparked by his cousin playing in the Bitcoin Bowl at NC State.

“We need to become the crypto capital of the world.”
Congressman Addison McDowell

At 31, McDowell is the youngest of the three freshmen I interviewed, and where Moore spoke with institutional authority and Harrigan with military precision, McDowell’s responses carried the urgency of loss channeled into purpose. His dedication to that mission runs so deep that he sleeps on his office couch during the week, a nightly reminder of the family he’s fighting for back home.

His work on the HALT Fentanyl Act, signed by President Trump during our interview week, demonstrated how personal tragedy can drive effective legislation. “I felt a lot of different emotions. I was just sad. I miss my brother, but I know he’d be proud of what we’ve done to honor his legacy.”

But his broader vision extends to ensuring North Carolina’s digital economy development creates meaningful opportunities for working families. “I have two kids, and I have to leave my kids at home when I come work up here,” McDowell explained. “If I’m able to legislate something that will be such a part of our country’s history, like digital assets or blockchain, that is something I can be proud of when I look at my kids when they’re older.”

During our conversation, McDowell’s generational perspective became most evident. His first introduction to cryptocurrency was his cousin playing in the Bitcoin Bowl at NC State, revealing how his generation encountered digital assets not as abstract policies but as part of their lives. This personal familiarity translated into policy confidence that older legislators clearly lack.

Alejandro Navia & Congressman Addison McDowell (NC-R) in Washington D.C.

He recalled observing older Democratic colleagues during a floor debate on crypto legislation that week. “I just came from the House floor where we were talking about three different pieces of legislation, and Maxine Waters was leading the debate for the Democrats. I sat there and listened to much of it, and I was struck by the fact that she sounds like somebody that has no idea.” This generational divide, he argues, poses a real risk to national competitiveness.

“We need to become the crypto capital of the world,” McDowell said. “If we are creating an environment where we’re trying to push innovation into China instead of here, that’s a problem. I want us to lead on this.”

For the youngest congressman, leading means competing, and he sees a sluggish regulatory state as the biggest obstacle to American innovation. “It’s about creating a regulatory environment that allows for growth,” he explained. “When you tell somebody developing a project is going to take two years here versus six months in Europe, why would they come here? We can’t have bureaucrats making rules that are outdated or overburdensome when we need to get going right now to beat China in this race for blockchain and digital assets.”

That urgency extends to energy infrastructure, where his position on the Natural Resources Committee gives him direct influence over the permitting and regulatory delays he sees strangling American competitiveness. “We have to create more energy to meet the moment we’re in right now,” he said. The connection is direct: without reliable, abundant energy production, North Carolina cannot power the data centers and computing infrastructure that digital assets and AI development require.

The Binding Constraint: Energy

Across these three separate interviews in different congressional offices, the same theme emerged unprompted: energy infrastructure as the foundation for everything else. Each congressman, representing different districts with different economic profiles, identified energy production as the fundamental constraint on North Carolina’s digital economy ambitions. Their consistency on this point revealed a shared understanding of competitive challenges that I hadn’t expected to find.

The energy conversation emerged organically in each of my interviews. It became clear that for these representatives, energy infrastructure isn’t a separate policy issue but the foundation that enables everything else. Their analysis is remarkably consistent and rooted in the state’s recent experience: rising power costs threaten business competitiveness, renewable energy subsidies drive up rates, and small modular reactors offer the most promising solution.

The urgency becomes clear when viewed through North Carolina’s competitive position. The state invested nearly $1 billion in broadband infrastructure through the American Rescue Plan, aiming to raise high-speed internet adoption from 73 percent to 80 percent of households. But without adequate power generation, the digital infrastructure remains incomplete.

Congressman Tim Moore (NC-R) & Alejandro Navia in Washington D.C.

Moore frames the problem through the lens of cost-effectiveness and reliability. He argues for a pragmatic approach, pushing back against decommissioning older power sources before new ones are viable. “I think that one thing that’s going to be incumbent on the state to do, and that we need to do at the federal level, is to make sure that we’re not shuttering energy plants until we know that we have enough other electricity production to come online to cover the growth.”

His solution involves nuclear development, specifically SMRs, to provide that new production. This builds on the foundation of supportive state-level policies like the recently passed State Senate Bill 266 that provide financing mechanisms for long-term nuclear projects.

Harrigan approaches it through defense applications, advocating for SMRs. “Something that I’d love to see deployed behind the meter for large data centers is a great example, so that we’re not affecting the neighbor’s power bills and we’re able to attract those kind of businesses.”

McDowell frames it in terms of regulatory competition and America’s broader competitive position. “When you tell somebody, developing this project is going to take two years, or you can go to Europe and it’ll take you six months, why would they come here?” he asked, stressing the need to streamline permitting. As a member of the Natural Resources Committee, this is his priority.

“I want to make sure that the regulatory environment that we have in our country allows for streamlined energy production. We can’t have bureaucrats making rules that make no sense or that are outdated or overburdensome. We need to get going right now to beat China in this race for blockchain, AI, and digital assets dominance.”

Convergent Strategy, Individual Expertise

What struck me across these separate conversations in different congressional offices was how each congressman identified the same fundamental challenges while bringing distinct approaches to the solutions. Their unity appeared organic, rooted in shared experience with North Carolina’s state-level success rather than coordinated talking points.

Moore’s Financial Services background and state-level experience make him the natural lead on cryptocurrency and digital assets policy. During “Crypto Week” in Congress, he co-sponsored The GENIUS Act, The CLARITY Act, and The Anti-CBDC Act which provide regulatory clarity for digital asset businesses.

Harrigan’s Armed Services and Science Committee positions allow him to shape defense innovation and AI governance. His success getting 16 out of 17 amendments through the National Defense Authorization Act markup demonstrates how military experience translates to legislative effectiveness. “That’s a testament to my team,” Harrigan noted, though his strategic thinking clearly drives the results.

Congressman Pat Harrigan & Alejandro Navia outside the **House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology**

McDowell’s Natural Resources and Transportation roles position him to address energy infrastructure and regulatory reform. His advocacy for streamlined permitting processes directly supports the state’s efforts to attract energy-intensive industries like data centers and advanced manufacturing.

This represents the human embodiment of the convergence I had been discovering in the state’s infrastructure: three distinct leaders, leveraging their unique expertise in finance, defense, and natural resources, all working to architect the same digital future.

Rather than simply attracting businesses with tax incentives, they’re building the regulatory and infrastructure foundation that emerging industries require. The state’s recent investments demonstrate this comprehensive approach: nearly $1 billion in broadband infrastructure, regulatory sandboxes for digital assets, streamlined permitting for energy projects, Amazon investing $10 Billion in the state, and strategic partnerships with institutions like OpenAI for government efficiency.

The Stakes

The insight driving North Carolina’s new congressional leaders is that true technological dominance requires more than software innovation. It demands leadership over the physical infrastructure of the digital age: rare earth materials, energy grids, data centers, and financial systems.

The stakes are substantial. North Carolina controls Spruce Pine’s ultra-pure quartz that powers 70-80 percent of global semiconductor manufacturing. Wolfspeed produces silicon carbide chips for electric vehicles and 5G networks. Charlotte hosts Coinbase and now Tether while serving as America’s second-largest financial center. Apple, Meta, and Amazon have committed billions in data center investments, drawn by pro-business environment along with nuclear-powered energy that provides reliable baseload power.

But continued growth requires coordinated energy policy that can support the massive power demands of AI training clusters, cryptocurrency mining operations, and the manufacturing facilities that produce the physical infrastructure of the digital economy.

While tech companies focus on applications and user interfaces, North Carolina is quietly building the foundation that powers them: securing domestic semiconductor supply chains through companies like Wolfspeed, expanding nuclear capacity for AI computing, and creating mature regulatory frameworks for digital finance. The state is constructing what has the potential to become America’s industrial backbone of the digital era.

Now in Washington, the convergent efforts of Congressmen Moore, Harrigan, and McDowell aim to scale this proven state-level success into national policy. With each focused on a critical pillar (finance, defense, and energy), their combined influence transcends traditional advocacy.

These leaders recognize that this decade will separate winning states from losing ones in the digital economy. Their approach positions North Carolina as America’s emerging digital infrastructure hub.

Next week in the Tar Heel Chain Series: “The State Architects” – Exclusive interviews with the congressional delegation and state leaders architecting North Carolina’s digital dominance.