This article was originally published by Carolina Public Press.
By Walker Livingston, Carolina Public Press
Carolina Public Press is an independent, in-depth and investigative nonprofit news service for North Carolina.
A committee of Republicans in North Carolina’s westernmost congressional district have chosen State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, to replace US Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-Hendersonville, in the race to defend his seat against Buncombe County farmer Jamie Ager, the Democratic nominee.
Balkcom, who has served two terms in the state House, has less than 100 days until Election Day to campaign to keep the 11th District in Republican hands after the disgraced Edwards dropped his reelection bid because of misconduct with former staffers. She currently represents part of Henderson County in the legislature, and her seat in the House will be filled while she campaigns this fall.
“This race is too important to sit out,” Balkcom said in a statement. “We must hold this seat, preserve our mountain values, work with President Trump’s Administration to continue rebuilding Western North Carolina, and make sure Washington never forgets the people who call these mountains home.”
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Balkcom, who is herself from a farming family in Henderson County, will run against Ager who has been campaigning for the past year. The race has already been contentious, with debates between Democrat Ager and former candidate Edwards focused on long-term Helene recovery and holding FEMA accountable.
With a new candidate, whether the seat remains red or flips blue becomes even less clear. So far, Ager had significantly out-fundraised Edwards, but the seat has been held by Republicans since 2013.
Choosing Balkcom
The Executive Committee for the Republican Party in NC-11 had an emergency meeting Monday in Asheville to decide who would replace Rep. Edwards in the congressional race for the district.
At the meeting, which took place at the Buncombe County Republican Party headquarters and was closed to the press, committee members made nominations and voted on them until more than half of the committee decided on Balkcom. She was one of six Republicans seeking the seat.
The committee consists of 63 individuals who are county party chairs, vice chairs and at-large members. Earlier Monday, NC House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, endorsed Balkcom in a social media post. Balkcom announced that she would be seeking the spot in the race late Sunday.
“We’re excited about the race and we know that she is going to represent this district well,” Merry Guy, the chair of the 11th District’s Republican committee, said after the meeting. She also said it would be her “full-time job” from now until November to get Balkcom elected.
Edwards leaves the race
Last Wednesday, Edwards announced his decision to drop his reelection bid for the 11th Congressional District, which came days after the House Ethics Committee recommended censuring him for inappropriate behavior toward two young, female staffers. Investigators found that Edwards gave the two staffers expensive gifts and vacations, took them on one-on-one dinners and skipped votes to help one decorate her Christmas tree. Both staffers resigned after rumors of their relationship with Edwards became public.
In a post on the social media site X, Edwards said that he will finish out his term. He has represented the 11th District in Congress since 2022, winning the Republican primary against the controversial former representative Madison Cawthorn.
A number of other nominees were in the running but Balkcom won on the first vote, according to Zach Almond, the director of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Other Republicans in Western North Carolina made statements this past week that they would not be seeking Edwards’ spot in the race. State Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Macon, issued a statement last week after Edwards announced his decision to not pursue Edwards’ seat for a myriad of reasons, one being his position on a Hurricane Helene recovery committee.
State Sen. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson, and Adam Smith, an Army veteran who ran against Edwards in the Republican primary earlier this year, both announced over the weekend that they would not be seeking the seat.
Ager campaign responds
Jamie Ager’s campaign doesn’t see Balkcom as any different from Edwards. Grayson Barnette, Ager’s campaign manager, said this vacancy is just another in a string of issues for the NC-11 seat.
“There’s no difference between Jennifer Balkcom and Chuck Edwards,” he said. “Jennifer Balkcom is going to do the exact same thing as Chuck Edwards, which is to drop the ball and not deliver Helene recovery results.”
While the 11th District is in a largely conservative region of North Carolina, it includes liberal Buncombe County and other small urban pockets. Most of the district was badly devastated by Helene two years ago.
