Politics

Republican leaders pick Walsh as nominee for NC House District 117

Chelsea Walsh poses at Bethel Wesleyan Church Thursday night after Republican Party leaders chose her as the GOP nominee for the state House District 117 seat left open when Jennifer Capps Balkcom was tapped to be the GOP’s nominee for the 11th Congressional District. [AMY B. MCCRAW/Hendersonville Lightning]

By Amy McCraw, Published: August 13, 2026

Party leaders in Henderson County on Thursday night chose Chelsea Walsh as the Republican nominee for state House District 117 in place of incumbent Jennifer Capps Balkcom, who was tapped on Monday night to be the GOP's nominee for the 11th Congressional District.

Walsh, the former chair of the Henderson County Republican Party, and Linda Odom Pryor, who raises apples, hay, corn and cattle along with her husband on their Edneyville farm, had both announced in recent days that they wanted to be considered to replace Balkcom when the Henderson County Republican Party’s executive committee met on Thursday at Bethel Wesleyan Church in Dana.
Adam Smith, who lost to U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards in the March 3 primary, also was a candidate for the state House nomination. After a first ballot eliminated Pryor, members of the county executive committee chose Walsh on a second ballot.
Walsh thanked supporters and posed for photographs in the church’s parking lot shortly after learning she would be her party’s nominee for the state house seat.
“This is going to be ours to win,” she said when asked about her chances in November’s general election.
Walsh, who owns Covenant Protection Insurance Services, said she thought her nomination was an outcome she had earned through her volunteer work for the Republican party, her candidacies for other offices and her connections to family, friends and clients in the community. She ran unsuccessfully for the Hendersonville City Council in 2021 and the next year narrowly lost to Balkcom in Republican primary for the N.C. 117 seat.
Her connections to the community will be an important advantage in the general election race that is now shortened by the shakeup that began when Edwards dropped his re-election campaign, Walsh said.
“With a shortened amount of time, I think name ID is very important,” she said. “I think we will be OK.”

Party leaders praised the choice by the county executive committee.

“House District 117 deserves a representative who will stand up for its families, communities, and conservative values,” House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said in a statement later Thursday night. “Chelsea Walsh is prepared to step up and continue the work Republicans have done to make North Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

NCGOP Chair Jason Simmons also endorsed the party's pick.

“Chelsea Walsh is ready to hit the ground running and continue the strong conservative leadership the people of House District 117 deserve,” he said. “This is an important seat, and we are confident voters will have a strong Republican choice in November who will fight for Western North Carolina families.”

Walsh vows to focus on mental illness awareness, the foster care system, senior citizen issues and farming if she wins the seat.
“These trees are the reason people move here,” Walsh said as she gestured to an apple orchard across Tracy Grove Road from the church where the GOP commitee met. “Farming is important to everyone. Farming needs to be preserved and profitable.”
If elected, Walsh said she also intends to be a representative for people in the entire district, whether they voted for her or not.
Pryor thanked her supporters who attended Thursday’s meeting. She said she will continue her work.
“A political seat has never been a priority for me. This won’t change anything that I do. I will continue my advocacy and education efforts on a volunteer basis, just as I have been for years,” she said. “Looking out into the audience and seeing so many farmers that stopped working to be there and support me made me immensely proud and was worth more than any political seat.”
Pryor attended the meeting with several supporters, some of them children, who were wearing stickers that said “Farmers For Pryor.”
The committee barred the press from the meeting.
Walsh faces Democrat Lynne Russo of Hendersonville in the general election in November.
Russo issued a statement shortly after Walsh was named.
“For over a year, I’ve been traveling across District 117, listening to people and working on the issues that matter most to Western North Carolina: Hurricane Helene recovery, the cost of living, strong public schools and restoring local decision-making,” she said. “Who I’m running against doesn’t change that work or why I’m running. I’m going to keep showing up, listening and working to earn the trust of voters across this district between now and November 3rd.”

Edwards's announcement  morning that he was dropping his re-election campaign set off a scramble to fill his slot on the ballot. Once Balkcom was chosen to replace Edwards, Republicans scheduled Thursday’s meeting to name a candidate to fill her seat.

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When she announced her intention to fill Balkcom’s seat, Pryor said she wanted to continue to serve her community
"I’m not a politician, I’m a farmer, a businesswoman, a wife and mother who understands what it means to work hard, solve problems, communicate with everyone, and be accountable," Pryor said in a text message sent to the Lightning early Tuesday.
Pryor has been active in the public service and outreach arm of the State Farm Bureau locally and statewide and in the farmland preservation that's now resulted in a $20 million ag preservation bond on the Nov. 3 ballot.
"Growing up in Bat Cave and now living in Edneyville, my life and career have been built in our community," she said. "Along the way, volunteer service has been a constant in my life. From helping neighbors after Helene tore through our area to mentoring Henderson County Public School students through the Pathfinders program, I have always believed we have an obligation to give back, to use our time, talents, and experiences to leave our community better than we found it.
"I believe in conservative principles: limited and accountable government, fiscal responsibility, individual freedoms, strong families, and protecting the values and way of life that make Henderson County such a special place."
She thanked those who have reached out to encourage and support her bid.
"To those of you who don’t know me yet, I look forward to meeting you, learning about you, and earning your vote," she said. "My roots may be in agriculture, but my commitment is to every person who calls District 117 home."
Walsh, who is the owner and agent at Covenant Protection Insurance Services, announced her interest in the seat in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“Over the past week or so, I have had multiple people reach out and encourage me to throw my hat in the ring. To say I am humbled by their confidence in me would be an understatement,” Walsh said in the post.
She said in the post that she intended to meet with the GOP’s executive committee before it voted on Thursday.
“With their vote, God willing, it would be an honor to represent the people of our district in Raleigh,” she said.
Walsh ran unsuccessfully for the Hendersonville City Council in 2021 and lost to Balkcom for the N.C. 117 seat in 2022.
Some local Republican leaders including former Henderson County Sheriff George H. Erwin Jr., former Henderson County Commissioner Marilyn Gordon and Michele Woodhouse, who ran in the 2022 Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District, responded to Walsh’s Facebook post with encouragement and support.