{"id":38137,"date":"2026-08-11T07:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T02:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38137"},"modified":"2026-08-11T07:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T02:12:34","slug":"north-carolina-gop-committee-picks-jennifer-balkcom-to-replace-rep-chuck-edwards-on-november-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38137","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina GOP committee picks Jennifer Balkcom to replace Rep. Chuck Edwards on November ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-5315da\" class=\"body-graf\">A panel of Republican officials in North Carolina selected a state lawmaker on Monday as the GOP nominee for a House race after embattled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/rep-chuck-edwards-drops-re-election-bid-censure-sexual-harassment-rcna590919\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Chuck Edwards<\/a> dropped his re-election bid following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/ethics-panel-recommends-censure-gop-rep-chuck-edwards-inappropriate-co-rcna590649\" target=\"_blank\">sexual harassment allegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bf8b4e\" class=\"body-graf\">Jennifer Balkcom, who represents a state legislative district in Henderson County, will face Jamie Ager, who won the Democratic primary in March.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ef4d62\" class=\"body-graf\">North Carolina GOP\u2019s Executive Committee for the 11th Congressional District <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NCGOP\/status\/2086965155816988702\" target=\"_blank\">picked Balkcom<\/a> to replace Edwards in compliance with state law given how late in the campaign he dropped out.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-866eb4\" class=\"body-graf\">Balkcom faces a sprint to Election Day, which is less than three months away. Absentee ballots are set to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsbe.gov\/news\/events\/absentee-voting-begins-november-2026-general-election\" target=\"_blank\">start going out<\/a> on Sept. 4, giving her just a few weeks to make her case to some voters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-715dba\" class=\"body-graf\">She announced her intention to seek the nomination less than 24 hours ago.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-88e3ed\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cThis race is too important to sit out,\u201d Balkcom <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JenBalkcom\/status\/2086639070113853469\" target=\"_blank\">wrote in a statement Sunday posted to X<\/a>, adding that Western North Carolina \u201cneeds a strong voice right now\u201d as it continues to rebuild after Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6ec522\" class=\"body-graf\">Her candidacy was heavily boosted by power players in the state. North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, endorsed Balkcom on social media Monday afternoon, calling her \u201cthe right person at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-fd6f70\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cJennifer is a principled conservative, a tireless advocate for her district, and a leader who gets things done,\u201d Hall <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ncspeakerhall\/status\/2086901893763150135\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f4f4a2\" class=\"body-graf\">The state GOP\u2019s executive director Zachary Almond congratulated Balkcom <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZacharyAlmondNC\/status\/2086966255420940756\" target=\"_blank\">on X<\/a> following the announcement of her nomination, saying he was \u201cexcited to work alongside her and her team throughout the election cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-ecd018\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1000\" data-original-width=\"1500\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260805-chuck-edwards-mb-1018-5a37b7.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260805-chuck-edwards-mb-1018-5a37b7.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260805-chuck-edwards-mb-1018-5a37b7.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260805-chuck-edwards-mb-1018-5a37b7.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260805-chuck-edwards-mb-1018-5a37b7.jpg\" alt=\"Rep. Chuck Edwards\" height=\"1000\" width=\"1500\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Rep. Chuck Edwards in Washington in 2025.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Bill Clark \/ CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-fb9546\" class=\"body-graf\">Edwards, who had been endorsed by President Donald Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/rep-chuck-edwards-drops-re-election-bid-censure-sexual-harassment-rcna590919\" target=\"_blank\">announced last week<\/a> that he would serve out his term in Congress but would not seek a third term in the House. His decision came days after the House Ethics Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/ethics-panel-recommends-censure-gop-rep-chuck-edwards-inappropriate-co-rcna590649\" target=\"_blank\">recommended a censure<\/a> following a probe that found \u201csubstantial reason to believe Representative Edwards violated House Rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-dff3fb\" class=\"body-graf\">He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and the Ethics Committee said Edwards, who cooperated with the panel\u2019s investigation, had denied that any of his actions were meant to be sexual or romantic in nature. Attorneys for Edwards wrote a<a href=\"https:\/\/ethics.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appendix-B-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"> 15-page response <\/a>to the committee\u2019s findings, calling them \u201cunfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1f51f7\" class=\"body-graf\">Edwards previously called the allegations \u201cbaseless,\u201d and in May he said he welcomed an investigation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-118d62\" class=\"body-graf\">Edwards was elected to the House in 2022 after having ousted the scandal-ridden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2022-election\/hot-mess-madison-cawthorn-faces-judgment-day-north-carolina-rcna27906\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Madison Cawthorn<\/a> in the GOP primary. Before that, the district was represented by Mark Meadows, who led the House Freedom Caucus before he stepped down to become White House chief of staff during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-aca752\" class=\"body-graf\">Edwards won his seat by more than 13 percentage points in 2024, but Democrats are hopeful they can flip it as Republicans seek to defend their narrow majority in the House heading into the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f40220\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Ager, a farmer who significantly outraised Edwards in the race, was previously listed as \u201cLikely Republican\u201d by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The rating was downgraded to \u201cLean Republican\u201d before the House Ethics Committee report was released.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A panel of Republican officials in North Carolina selected a state lawmaker on Monday as the GOP nominee for a House race after embattled Rep. Chuck Edwards dropped his re-election bid following sexual harassment allegations. Jennifer Balkcom, who represents a state legislative district in Henderson County, will face Jamie Ager, who won the Democratic primary&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Jennifer-vsb-2011Balkcom-b63fc5.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}