The Case Against Chuck Edwards

“Jamie Ager is a fourth-generation community builder and farmer who is running to provide real leadership for Western North Carolina. Jamie stepped up to the plate to help his community and his neighbors after Hurricane Helene, while Chuck Edwards’ ‘efforts’ failed to deliver for devastated communities. This November, North Carolinians are going to send Jamie Ager, the neighbor that they know and trust, to Congress,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.

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To: Interested Parties
From: Madison Andrus, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: March 3, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Chuck Edwards

Jamie Ager isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and show up for his neighbors, while Chuck Edwards has repeatedly failed to deliver, and often failed to even show up.

While Jamie Ager was opening his home and donating food from his farm to North Carolinians who needed help after Hurricane Helene, Chuck Edwards was nowhere to be found. While Jamie Ager was diving in to help his neighbors, Chuck Edwards was too scared to stand up to Kristi Noem and secure the recovery funding North Carolina needed. Western North Carolinians get things done, they deserve a leader that does the same for them.

Chuck Edwards Disappeared When North Carolinians Needed Him Most

Hurricane Helene decimated Western North Carolina, killing over 100 people, wiping out entire neighborhoods, and costing the state nearly $60 billion in damages. With more than 220,000 families in desperate need of assistance, they turned to their Congressman, Chuck Edwards, for help – all they got were crickets.

Nearly two years later, Edwards (despite bending the knee to his party bosses) has secured barely 10% of the funding North Carolina needs from the federal government as the state continues to recover from Hurricane Helene. When more than 500 families applied for a federal program to buy their homes or protect them from future flooding, it took Chuck Edwards nearly a year to get the applications approved by Kristi Noem – while working families paid for homes they couldn’t live in. Edwards’ lack of action led his local paper to call him out for trying to brag about woefully under-delivering needed relief. Edwards’ poor response even caused another Republican to get in the race, who claimed Edwards was “ineffective” because he wasn’t seen on the ground.

After Hurricane Helene, Jamie Ager opened up his home and his farm to his neighbors who were struggling. While Edwards sat back, Jamie made sure that everyone had food to eat. Not because anyone told him to but because, to him, that’s what you do for your community.

Edwards Has Sought to Make Life More Expensive for North Carolinians

Even after the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to Western North Carolina, Edwards voted to raise costs and make it harder to access health care with his vote for the Big Beautiful Bill. His vote threatens to kick nearly 40,000 people in NC-11 off their health insurance and ripped away $50 billion from rural health care in the state, putting nearly half a dozen rural hospitals at risk of closing – including one in his own district.

Edwards also voted in support of the sweeping tariffs that are driving up the cost of every day expenses for North Carolinians. These taxes on consumers are hitting Hurricane Helene victims the hardest, increasing prices for basic rebuilding and construction materials like lumber. With an estimated cost of nearly 8,000 jobs and $2 billion statewide, including a $700 million price tag for North Carolina farmers alone, Chuck Edwards’ reckless tariff taxes are crushing North Carolina’s economy.

Edwards’ failures to deliver were likely no surprise to customers of his McDonald’s franchises, which have repeatedly been dogged by health and safety violations.

Edwards Has Used Congress as a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme 

Chuck Edwards has shown time and time again that he’s in Washington to enrich himself, not to fight for the needs of Western North Carolina. When he first ran for Congress, Edwards loaned himself six-figures to get into Congress – then paid himself back nearly $20,000 in interest. Edwards was even highlighted for his “talent for making money by running for office.”

It’s no wonder Western North Carolinians are sick and tired of Chuck Edwards’ false promises and failures. They want and deserve a representative who will fight alongside them – and Jamie Ager has already stepped up to the plate. His small business created two dozen jobs and works with dozens more farmers, serving as an economic boost for the region.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

HEADLINE: Two House Districts Move From Solid to Likely Republican

“Cuts to FEMA could become politically toxic for Republican members of Congress like Edwards.” [Cook Political, 09/11/25]

HEADLINE: GOP lawmaker booed at North Carolina town hall, escorted from building

“‘How do you justify cuts to staff of the VA helping veterans, especially those with long-term care needs?’ asked one constituent, who was met with a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in Asheville, North Carolina.”

‘You don’t get to do this to us,’ yelled another constituent.” [ABC News, 03/14/25]

HEADLINE: 2025 A Look Back: Nothingburger award [Smoky Mountain News, 12/31/25]

“Western North Carolina pulled into the congressional drive-thru after Hurricane Helene, placed a large order and waited. And waited. And waited.

What Rep. Chuck Edwards finally handed his constituents was an empty paper bag containing a rather large nothingburger — heavy on branding, light on substance and nowhere near the $60 billion recovery order his storm-famished district actually placed.”

HEADLINE: Protesters rally at Rep. Edwards’s owned McDonald’s over vote on SNAP, healthcare [WLOS, 11/30/25]

HEADLINE: Edwards defends vote for “One Big Beautiful Bill” despite nonpartisan analysis predicting it would benefit the rich and harm the poor

“President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that passed in the House last week may financially stress tens of thousands of people in western North Carolina — many struggling in Tropical Storm Helene’s aftermath — who depend on federal help for medical care, nursing homes, children’s health coverage and monthly meals, according to analyses by several nonpartisan organizations…

But that claim, which tracks the Trump White House’s talking points, fails to acknowledge that most of that tax break would benefit the wealthiest income earners. And it ignores the devastating impact the bill’s spending cuts may have on the region’s lower-income residents, especially those struggling with increasing food costs, health challenges and losses caused by Helene.” [Asheville Watchdog, 10/25/25]

HEADLINE: Medicaid experts say grant touted by Chuck Edwards will do little to offset $50B in losses for NC hospitals [Southeast Politics, 02/06/26]

HEADLINE: Congressman who ran on a ‘passion for consumer service’ owns bug-infested restaurants that made 300 sick

“A chain of McDonald’s restaurants owned by a North Carolina congressman has been dogged by grim allegations and controversies – such as maggots in burgers, a norovirus outbreak, and even a deadly shooting at one location by one of his felon employees.”  [Daily Mail, 11/22/25]

HEADLINE: Jamie Ager enters NC-11 race with message of rural roots, business acumen [Smoky Mountain News, 07/29/25]

HEADLINE: Democrat Edges Out Incumbent Republican in New Internal Campaign Poll [Newsweek, 01/06/26]

PATH TO VICTORY:
North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District is one of the few GOP-held districts “that has consistently drifted left over the past decade.” Only five districts in the country swung towards Democrats more than North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in 2024, making this seat a top pickup opportunity for Democrats. In that same cycle, Governor Josh Stein became the first statewide Democratic candidate to win the district outright. From Asheville to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Democrats gained ground and became more popular in this heavily rural and suburban district in 2024.

This momentum, paired with the strongest Democratic House candidate this district has seen since Heath Shuler, puts NC-11 squarely in play. 

Jamie Ager’s strong roots across Western North Carolina as a job creator and leader in Hurricane Helene recovery efforts expands the types of voters Democrats can reach here. Amid a broadly unpopular administration that can’t stop making life harder for Western North Carolina, Democrats have the momentum needed to unseat Chuck Edwards in November.

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