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Republicans in North Carolina selected state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom (R) as the new GOP nominee in the state’s 11th Congressional District, after Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) dropped out of the race last week.
Members of the state GOP’s executive committee for the 11th district selected Balkcom just 85 days before Election Day in what projects to be a tightly contested race in the western North Carolina district. She will face Democrat Jamie Ager, who won his party’s primary in March.
Edwards, who has represented the district since January 2023, said last Wednesday he was ending his bid for a third term — two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended lawmakers to formally censure the North Carolina Republican after he violated the “spirit” of the chamber’s policies on sexual harassment against staff.
The 25-page report said Edwards engaged in “highly unprofessional” conduct with two female members of his staff that made them “feel uncomfortable, and/or gave the appearance of a sexual or romantic advance.”
Edwards, according to the report, wrote poems for a staffer, told a staffer he left early from an event because she brought a date and paid for a staffer’s massages and spa treatments, among other actions that fostered a “hostile work environment.”
The two-term representative’s conduct did not rise to sexual harassment, nor did it call for lawmakers to remove Edwards from his committee, the report noted. But despite “the absence of an explicit proposition,” the report said a “reasonable person could interpret” the actions of Edwards “as thinly veiled advances.”
The report stated, “That Representative Edwards did all these things to two young staffers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate.”
Balkcom announced her candidacy for the GOP nomination on Sunday night, saying she received an “outpouring of encouragement” to pursue it.
“I hadn’t planned to go to Washington,” she said in a written statement. “But I’ve learned throughout my life that when your community needs you, you don’t sit on the sidelines; you step up.”
Balkcom has represented North Carolina’s 117th House district since January 2023, after spending more than two decades in the banking and mortgage loan industries, according to her LinkedIn.
Republicans in North Carolina quickly coalesced around Balkcom. Jason Simmons, the chair of the state GOP, said the state lawmaker “has what it takes to be a strong voice” for western North Carolina on Capitol Hill.
“She is committed to fighting for our families, defending our conservative values, and making sure Western North Carolina has a strong advocate in Congress,” Simmons said in a release.
“Jennifer Balkcom fights every day for the people of WNC, whether it’s disaster recovery, supporting farmers, or standing up for women & girls,” North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd (R) wrote on social media. “I’m endorsing Jennifer because she’ll bring the values & strength of WNC to D.C., work to grow our economy, & always stand up for NC-11.”
Edwards won by more than 9 points in 2022 and 13-plus points in 2024, and President Trump won his district by 9.5 points in 2024, according to The Downballot.
But election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the race as a GOP lean, making it one of just nine of 435 with that distinction. Ager also had nearly $2.2 million on hand as of the end of June, according to the Federal Election Commission.
North Carolina will begin mailing absentee ballots on Sept. 4, with early voting starting in just more than two months’ time.
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