Democrat Jamie Ager Flips North Carolina's 11th District After GOP Incumbent's Exit
The fourth-generation farmer won a seat Democrats have not held since 2010, after Rep. Chuck Edwards dropped his bid following a House censure.
Democrat Jamie Ager flipped North Carolina's 11th Congressional District on Tuesday night, CBS News projected, the first time a Democrat has won the western North Carolina seat since 2010. Ager, a fourth-generation farmer, defeated Republican state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, who was placed on the ballot less than 90 days before the election.
Ager was originally set to face GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards, a two-term incumbent who ended his reelection bid in early August. Edwards' departure followed a bipartisan House Ethics Committee finding that he had engaged in "persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct" toward two young women who worked for him. The full House voted overwhelmingly to censure him in September.
Edwards argued that the committee's findings "completely exonerate" him under House rules, but he abandoned his campaign days after the censure vote. That left Republicans scrambling to replace him on the ballot, and Balkcom entered a race that was already difficult for her party in a poor national climate for Republicans.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report moved the race from lean Republican to toss-up after Edwards suspended his campaign. As Election Day approached, forecasters shifted it again, to lean Democratic. The result matched that final rating.
The seat is one of a handful of pickups Democrats needed to take control of the House. Republicans entered election night with a 218-214 advantage, so Democrats need to flip only three seats for a majority. The Cook Political Report had projected that Democrats would likely flip between 15 and 25 seats.
The district win came in the same state where Democrat Roy Cooper flipped the open Senate seat, defeating Trump-backed Michael Whatley. North Carolina was a clear bright spot for Democrats early in the evening, which carried over from the top of the ticket to a House district that Republicans had held for 16 years.
Nationally, the environment was difficult for the GOP. Exit polls cited by CBS News put President Donald Trump's approval rating at 38 percent, and roughly three-quarters of voters said they were at least dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Former Sen. Joe Manchin, now an independent, told CBS News on Tuesday that "if there was ever a blue wave, this is set up to be one."
Senior Trump administration officials told CBS News they had accepted that Republicans would likely lose the House unless there was an unexpected shift. Ager's victory, in a district where the incumbent was forced out by an ethics scandal and the replacement had only weeks to campaign, shows how the combination of local problems and national discontent put a seat that once looked safe for Republicans out of reach.
