Jamie Ager

Jamie Ager was born in Fairview, North Carolina, and raised on his family's Hickory Nut Gap Farm. He graduated from A.C. Reynolds High School and earned degrees from Warren Wilson College in environmental studies, with a concentration in sustainable agriculture, and in history. With his wife, Amy, he built Hickory Nut Gap into a meat company that his campaign says employs 25 people and works with dozens of regional farmers. His grandfather represented the 11th District in Congress in the 1980s, his father served in the state House, and his brother Eric holds that state House seat now. Ager launched his congressional campaign on July 31 and filed for the race on December 1, 2025. In the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary he won about 65 percent of the vote against four other candidates, including Richard Hudspeth and Zelda Briarwood. He faces Republican state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom on November 3, 2026; the district Republican executive committee selected Balkcom on August 10, 2026 after Rep. Chuck Edwards withdrew.