Clay County isn’t exactly a Democratic stronghold.
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats more than 4-to-1 in the rural, far western county.
But a Democratic candidate forum last month drew a standing-room-only crowd of about 140 people.
One of those people was Elisabeth Somervell. The retired high school math teacher and current treasurer for the Clay County Democratic Party said she feels good about her party’s chances in the 11th Congressional District this year.
She said there is a groundswell of anger over President Trump’s actions on issues ranging from affordable housing to immigration enforcement.
“I think that we're feeling a little bolder now, which is a good thing,” Somervell told BPR in an interview after the forum.
“And I'm hoping that people are sufficiently fed up that we are going to kick butt.”
It helps, she noted, that there’s a wide field of candidates making their case to voters.
“On a certain level, I would like to take all five of them and put them together and make them into one person,” Somervell said. “Because they all had great ideas.”
Democrats in Western North Carolina are facing an unusual situation: For the first time in years, they have several candidates to choose from in the primary for the 11th Congressional District.
Recent candidate forums have been packed, and the state Board of Elections says more voters have cast an early ballot than at the same point four years ago.
The high level of interest in the race reflects a mixture of enthusiasm — and fear — among voters this year.
An uphill battle, but not out of reach
The 11th District, which includes most of Western North Carolina, hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 2010. Last election cycle, only one Democrat entered the race.
The five people throwing their hats in the ring this year are farmer Jamie Ager; mental health practitioner Zelda Briarwood; physician and former Blue Ridge Health CEO Richard Hudspeth; cell biologist Paul Maddox; and civil engineer Lee Whipple.
So far, Ager has led the pack in fundraising and political buzz. But his rivals have drawn significant support as well at the half-dozen forums organized by local Democratic officials.
Ager has also outraised Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, who’s been in office since 2023 and faces a primary challenge of his own.
This week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Ager to its “Red to Blue” program. The initiative provides fundraising and strategic support to candidates the DCCC hopes will flip Republican-held districts.
In another reflection of the shifting political landscape, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter moved the 11th District race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” last fall.
The general election will be an uphill battle for any Democrat – but not completely out of reach. That’s according to Erin Covey, the House editor for the Cook Report.
“This is a district that voted for Trump by about nine points in 2024,” Covey told BPR in an interview. “But it's also one of the few parts of the country that has actually been consistently trending in Democrats' favor over the past decade.”
One of the issues that’s fueling that trend is Hurricane Helene recovery and the long delays in federal aid, Covey said.
‘People are concerned’
The forum in the Clay County seat of Hayesville was just one of several that local Democratic Party officials organized. Cathy Yost, one of the organizers of the event, said she was struck by the energy both during the forum and afterward as participants headed home.
“As I was standing there, people were walking out the door, [and] they were saying, ‘Oh, we're so glad there were so many Democrats here. It's so great. We don't get to see this many Democrats in one place at a time,’” Yost said. “And I think that was just encouraging.”
But among the more than a dozen voters and party officials BPR spoke with in recent weeks, many voiced not just enthusiasm about their choices but also a sense of urgency and alarm. They cited fear about the state of American democracy and civil liberties, especially amid Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
“People are concerned,” Jesse Ross, first vice-chair of the NC-11 Democrats, told BPR before a recent forum in Asheville. “I mean, there's not just excitement, but there's a real level of fear and anxiety towards the fact that it seems like many people across our nation don't know that this is a tipping point that we might not be able to return from.”
Cody Jones of Clyde was among the participants at the Asheville forum, which drew about 300 attendees. He said part of what motivated him to attend was his fear of where the country is headed.
“Well, it's more important than ever to come out and support the party that we believe in. Obviously, because of all that's going on, it's a scary time,” Jones said. “So we got to make some real change. And that starts here, in our community.”
The primary comes at a time when opposition to Trump’s agenda is at a record high.
According to a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, 55% of voters nationwide say Trump is changing the country for the worse.
That includes 64% of independents.
Those voters will be crucial in the general election, said Covey of the Cook Report.
“The Democratic nominee, if they're going to pull off an upset, they're going to need to be able to persuade at least a small slice of Republican voters and a large chunk of independent voters to vote for them,” Covey said. “And so, that will probably take a Democrat who has more moderate views.”
