Jamie Ager projected to win Democratic primary in North Carolina House district

Politics Jamie Ager projected to win Democratic primary in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District By Caitlin Yilek Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation. Read Full Bio Caitlin Yilek March 3, 2026 / 9:17 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — Jamie Ager has won the Democratic primary in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District on Tuesday, CBS News has projected. Ager, a fourth-generation farmer, will face incumbent GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards in the November elections. Edwards has represented the western North Carolina district since 2023. The Cook Political Report has rated the district as "likely Republican," but Democrats believe they have a chance at flipping the seat as the party seeks to retake control of the House. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or the DCCC, announced last week that Ager was among a dozen "top-tier" candidates who would receive additional resources and fundraising support heading into the general election. Ager was also endorsed by the campaign arm of the Blue Dog Coalition, which bills itself as a group of pragmatic Democrats. In March 2025, video went viral from a town hall where angry constituents confronted Edwards, leading President Trump to weigh in that the event was "'littered' with Radical Left Lunatics, mostly Democrats, and all they did was scream, shout and use filthy language." A Democrat has not won the seat since 2010. According to the DCCC, the district is one of five that swung the most toward Democrats' in 2024. Western North Carolina was slammed in 2024 with catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Helene, and Edwards has been grilled by both Democrats and Republicans for slow delivery of recovery funds .