NC-11 Democrats have changed the speaker line-up for an upcoming fundraiser after controversy surrounding local leaders inviting a single primary contender to headline the event.
Five Democrats have already made plans to file to run in the westernmost congressional district to face the Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards.
Last weekend, four of the Democratic candidates sent a letter to party leadership alleging favoritism toward candidate Jamie Ager.
The letter, sent to BPR and first confirmed by Smoky Mountain News on Saturday, calls out the NC-11 Democratic Party’s decision to invite Ager as a keynote speaker stating: “This decision is deeply unfair and, more importantly, fundamentally undermines the principles of transparency, inclusion, and neutrality that must govern the Democratic Party’s role in primary elections.”
Political parties traditionally don’t offer exclusive support for a candidate until after a primary – when the candidate becomes the official nominee in a partisan race, says North Carolina politics expert and WCU professor Chris Cooper.
“Traditionally, the political parties stay out of primaries. Even if they might have a candidate who they really think is the one who's likely to be the most successful, the job of the party at the county level, at the district level, and at the state level is to be neutral until that primary's over,” Cooper said.
Part of the allegations of favoritism involve the fact that Ager’s family has been in politics for years.
Jamie Ager’s father, John Ager, was in the North Carolina General Assembly, his brother, N.C. Rep. Eric Ager, is serving his second term in Raleigh, and his grandfather, Jamie Clark, represented the 11th Congressional District as a Democrat for three terms in the 1980s.
The NC-11 Democratic Party was quick to apologize on Monday for inviting Ager to the event and not the other candidates.
“A misstep was made in the selection for speaker for the upcoming NC-11 gala…When Jamie Ager announced, it seemed that this was an answer. Some officers agreed and some did not, we consulted with NCDP as well. In retrospect this was not the impartial way to handle this task,” the statement states.
The statement from NC-11 executive officers invited all candidates - Zelda Briarwood, Col. Moe Davis, Paul S. Maddox and Chirs Harjes - to speak during the Gala.
“We have reached out to all the District 11 candidates for the U.S. House, and all have been invited to speak at the gala. We are hoping they all accept our invitation. It is our sincere wish that for those of you who were offended and angry that this will be sufficient to allow the district to move forward and elect a candidate to defeat Chuck Edwards.”
While the above candidates have declared their intention to run, filing for the 2026 midterm will not open until December, Cooper explained.
Republicans and Democrats have organizations at the national level, regional level, and among state and county party organizations. The 2025 NC-11 Democrat Gala being held this month was planned by the regional Democratic Party, says Buncombe County Democratic Party Chair Kristen Robinson.
“The Buncombe County Democratic Party and the NC11 Democrats are two separate organizations. BCDP had no hand in the planning or execution of the gala. Any Democratic candidate is welcome to attend any event that BCDP does put on,” Robinson told BPR in an email.
Cooper explains that this discussion highlights the importance and history of the primary. He explains that primaries started in the 1970s as a way to reform the party.
“This debate over the degree to which party elites should make decisions versus rank-and-file party members should make decisions is about as old as the Republic,” he said.
The gala event on the NC-11 Democrats website has been updated to highlight Carolina Forward’s Nicole Quick as the only keynote speaker.
