Fourth-generation western NC farmer Jamie Ager talks Congress run, Iran, FEMA

Fourth-generation Western North Carolina farmer Jamie Ager, will face two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards in the battle for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in November.

Fourth-generation Western North Carolina farmer and Hickory Nut Gap Farms CEO and Democrat, Jamie Ager, will face two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards in the battle for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in November.

It is the first time Ager, 48, will run for office. His brother, Eric Ager, is a member of the North Carolina House. His father, John Ager, served in the NC House from 2015-2023. Ager‘s grandfather Jamie Clarke served three nonconsecutive terms in Congress from 1983-85 and from 1987-91.

The 2026 race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District is expected to be among the most hotly contested in the nation. National Democratic organizations have backed Ager, who has outraised the Trump-endorsed Edwards by 47% between July 31, 2025, and Feb. 11. Ager has raised more than $940,000 to Edwards’ $638,000.

The last Democrat to win the district was former NFL Quarterback and Bryson City native Heath Shuler, who defeated long-time Transylvania County Republican Charles Taylor in 2006. In 1990, Taylor defeated Clarke, Ager‘s grandfather. Shuler served three terms and declined to run again in 2012. The seat has been held by a Republican since Mark Meadows took office in 2013. Meadows later became Trump’s chief of staff in his first term.

Here’s what Chuck Edwards has to say about Iran war, FEMA reform, more

“I love this place. It’s home in so many ways: the mountains, the rivers, the streams, the small towns, the small businesses” Ager told the Citizen Times at his March 3 primary watch party.

In a March 10 interview with the Citizen Times, Ager said that he wants to push for additional federal aid for WNC recovery, bring more oversight of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Operations and he expressed frustration that the war in Iran has received more federal funding as WNC continues to recover from Tropical Storm Helene. Here’s what to know.

What made you want to run? What motivated you?

Jamie Ager: I’m a fourth-generation Western North Carolinian. My family’s been here a long time. I was frustrated by politics. If you’re frustrated, you can complain about it or do something about it. And that ‘s a pretty easy question to answer.

Helene recovery felt slow and clunky and government wasn’t working for everyday people. And so, to me, our country needs good leadership at this point in its history. I have experience in entrepreneurship and building a business, I care a lot about these communities and so all those things made sense. I know I can go win.

Jamie Ager, a farmer from western NC, is running for Congress this fall against Republican Chuck Edwards. (USA Today via Reuters)

Similar to Congressman Edwards, it sounds like you believe the federal government has been very slow to help WNC in the wake of Helene?

JA: That storm cost us about $60 billion. I think we’ve gotten less than 15% of the funds that we need to recover. We got a lot of promises made about recovery that aren’t following through. To me, the response to Helene in WNC has been a failure, and Kristi Noem, as head of DHS, was heading that up. Certainly with all of her activity, Helene was just one example of why incompetent leadership doesn’t produce results for the American people.

You said NC estimates only about 15% of costs have been paid for by the federal government. What have you made of efforts to obtain more federal funding?

JA: They haven’t been enough. To me, and I’m an entrepreneur, I know how to go get the deal done. Somebody’s got to go fight for the money. It doesn’t just come. The feedback I’ve gotten from other members of Congress is that Chuck (Edwards) has not done enough to fight for this region. I think that (Sens.) Tillis and Budd are fighting a little harder than he is and that’s a failure of leadership on his part.

Trump has gone to war with Iran. How do you feel about the conflict?

JA: The history of the Iranian regime is not a good one. Their human rights record and their ability to be a partner for the world has been miserable.

So, to see that regime — the Ayatollah — dead is not bad news for the world, but we have big problems: The president owes the American people an explanation of what our goals are, what our key objectives for this war are and right now we are not seeing any of that. And Congress hasn’t voted on it. It feels frustrating and it’s costing a lot of dollars that aren’t coming to WNC to help us recover from Helene.

[Editor’s note: The first six days of the Iran war are estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon. North Carolina has only been allocated $7 billion in total federal funding for Helene recovery, according to Gov. Josh Stein.]

Would you support boots on the ground?

JA: No.

What do you make of recent US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations?

JA: It has been disheartening and inconsistent with our constitution.

We have masked agents and unmarked cars roving the streets. And to see what happened up in Minnesota, it’s just tragic and sad and frustrating and not acceptable. I’ve been calling for Kristi (Noem) to be fired for a while due to all of that behavior.

I feel like immigration, broadly speaking, has had some pretty good policy drafted up over the past several years about how to bring people that are friends and neighbors that are good (people), that are paying taxes, that are hard working families a path to citizenship. It makes sense.

Obviously, we need a stronger border. Having an open border is unacceptable. I was frustrated about that in the previous administration. I’m a patriot. I care about our country and to think that our country and our democracy doesn’t solve big, hard problems like immigration is frustrating to me.

To me, using those issues as political footballs is not as the work that we do in Congress.

Do you think ICE and Border Patrol need more oversight?

JA: In the context of Congress, yes.

Going back to FEMA, do you think it needs to be reformed? If so, what do you think that looks like?

JA: I think that we need a system to manage emergencies in this country. Was FEMA successful in the context of Hurricane Helene? Obviously, we can all agree that it wasn’t.

We need to be looking for improvements in our bureaucracies. I’m open minded. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas, but we need to make sure that these bureaucracies function well for the American people. Right now, we’ve seen a big failure of leadership in that world.

What is the biggest issue facing WNC in 2026?

JA: No question, Helene recovery. The tale of that storm and of the economic tailwind from that is felt every day by folks all over: in small communities, in the farming community. To me, we are still in the economic doldrums of the post-Helene economy.

Already, working people have been struggling a lot with making ends meet — working 40 hours a week and not being able to afford a home, get health insurance, pay utilities, pay for childcare. Folks just don’t feel like they can live a life like that anymore.

To me, that creates a lot of cynicism and mistrust in the systems. To me, those are kind of the issues that I see as the primary issues around what’s affecting the mountain people here in WNC.

Reporting by Will Hofmann, Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Citizen Times

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect