Retiring Guy's Digest: Flipping the House and flipping off Trump: Democrat Jamie Ager defeats Republican Jennifer Balkcom and flips North Carolina 11th congressional district (open seat)

Monday, November 9, 2026

Flipping the House and flipping off Trump: Democrat Jamie Ager defeats Republican Jennifer Balkcom and flips North Carolina 11th congressional district (open seat)

Election results and map: Ballotpedia

Headline: NC Newsline, 11/5/2026

Christine Zhu reports:

Ager, the owner of Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, defeated state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, a Republican from Hendersonville, at 57% to 41% with all precincts reporting in unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. 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.