After more than a decade, Western North Carolina will soon have a Democratic voice in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jamie Ager, a Democrat from Fairview, won his NC-11 election bid, marking yet another victory for Democrats nationwide as they seem set to flip control of Congress.
“ It's time for the revival of the mountain Democrats because folks in these mountains have been left behind for way too long,” Ager told supporters at an election night watch party in Asheville.
Ager, a farmer and business owner, defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom by more than 50,000 votes – a “shocking swing” from last year when the region voted overwhelmingly for Republican Chuck Edwards.
“It's a real testament to Ager as a candidate,” said David Beavers, an assistant professor in the Department of Politics & International Affairs at Wake Forest. “He ran a very localized campaign. He's not just talking about kind of national things and culture war issues and the like. He's talking about Hurricane Helene recovery and things that are of deep concern to his district.”
Getting more funding for Helene recovery is a priority for Ager, who put it at the top of his list when talking to reporters after his victory Tuesday night.
“We're focused on, number one, Helene recovery funding for Western North Carolina. We're focused on the fact that the cost of living for so many people all over western North Carolina is overwhelming them,” he said. “And we're talking about the fact that right now in Washington, corruption's winning, and that means America's losing.”
Ager’s win is part of a string of victories for Democrats nationwide and particularly in the South.
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won his bid for Senate against Trump-endorsed Republican Michael Whatley by a 19% margin, the largest in more than 50 years.
“When you get that kind of blowout at the top of the ticket, that really just drags other people along and it pads those margins,” said Jason Roberts, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina.
While the results of Ager’s and Cooper’s races didn’t come as a surprise to political experts, the windfall of Democratic victories in states like Texas, South Carolina and Georgia did.
“I think you can probably interpret it several different ways,” Beavers said. “Certainly Republican disillusionment with Trump and some of the cratering of the MAGA coalition. I think some of this is probably boosted by very strong, robust turnout by Black folks in the South.”
All of these victories happened despite a nationwide redistricting effort from Republicans at the urging of President Donald Trump. Those efforts included NC-1, which Democratic Rep. Don Davis held, despite Republicans in the state redrawing it to be more competitive for the GOP.
Ager said he wasn’t following other races on election night and that he didn’t even have his cell phone with him at the watch party.
“I have a hard time pontificating on all those larger political questions, but I do think obviously people are ready for change, and it seems like we're part of that movement,” Ager said Tuesday night.
The district Ager will represent has not always been as steadily Republican as it has been for the last 16 years. The region didn’t elect a Republican until 1981 and in the years that followed it remained one of the most competitive districts in the state.
Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University referred to it as “the most purple of purple districts,” and says newspapers called it “the turnstile district” because it went back and forth between Democrats and Republicans so much. And one of those Democrats was Ager’s grandfather, James Clarke.
Ager’s father, John, also served as a state representative. His brother, Eric, currently represents Buncombe County in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
