Democrat Jamie Ager flips western North Carolina US House seat

Democrat Jamie Ager appears to have won North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, flipping the seat. 

Ager, the owner of Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, defeated state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, a Republican from Hendersonville. The Associated Press called the race at 8:55 p.m. 

“Instead of trying to move the mountains here in Western North Carolina, we decided to go right into them and meet people,” Ager said during his victory speech. “We got curious about what makes Western North Carolina such a special place to be.”

The district has been reliably red for most of the past 35 years. President Donald Trump won it three times, and it’s only elected one Democrat, Heath Shuler, to Congress since 1991. 

Democrats saw an opening with Ager, a homegrown farmer who’s well known in the community and comes from a political family with decades of history in Western North Carolina. He initially faced an uphill climb. 

But after disgraced GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards dropped his reelection bid in August, the tables turned. The North Carolina Republican Party picked Balkcom as Edwards’ replacement on Aug. 10, leaving her with less than three months to run a congressional campaign. 

Both candidates competed to appeal to Western North Carolina’s mountain values. In the end, Balkcom just couldn’t catch up. 

“While it isn’t the outcome we wanted, I am proud of the campaign we were able to mount in such a short span of time in one of the worst political environments in modern history,” Balkcom said in a statement. “I look forward to running again — and taking this seat back — in 2028.”

Democrat Lynne Russo flipped Balkcom’s state House seat, contributing to Democratic control of the lower chamber.

A tale of two farmers: Ager, Balkcom compete for NC-11 seat

Election forecaster Cook Political Report shifted the district from “toss up” to “lean Democratic” on Oct. 23. 

At the moment, Republicans hold a 218-214 majority in the House, with three vacancies. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to flip the chamber. 

Ager’s grandfather Jamie Clark represented the 11th Congressional District from 1983 to 1985 and 1987 to 1991. His brother Eric serves in the state House, as did their father John. 

This story is developing and will be updated.