Politics

Ager maintains lead over Edwards in fundraising, cash on hand

By Bill Moss, Published: July 20, 2026

Jamie Ager continued his fundraising advantage over U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards as the battle for 11th Congressional District seat enters the final 15 weeks, campaign finance reports for the second quarter show.

Ager, the Democratic nominee, raised $1.34 million, spent $292,000 and had $2,184,778 cash on hand at the end of the second quarter while Edwards brought in $152,000, spent $157,000 and had $485,744 in cash.

“I am continually blown away seeing how our neighbors are chipping in and supporting this campaign,” Ager said in a news release. “This race isn’t about me. It’s about all the people here in Western North Carolina who are tired of leadership that won’t deliver for them, and we are stepping up to make our voices heard all the way in Washington.”

In the news release, Ager’s campaign noted that the fundraising haul came from a median donation of just $10 and with no corporate PAC money.

Federal Elections Commission records show that Ager outraised Edwards by roughly 9 to 1 in the quarter, continuing the pattern from the first quarter of this year when the farmer from Fairview took in more than $950,000 from over 5,600 donors, far exceeding Edwards's total of roughly $55,000. Ager has now outraised Edwards for four straight quarters.

Paul Shumaker, Edwards’s campaign manager, contends that Ager, unlike the two-term Republican incumbent, has to spend money on name recognition.

“The congressman has a base level of identity in the district that reflects his work and service,” Shumaker told the Carolina Journal on Friday. “Our opponent does not. We expect the intensity on both sides to be amplified over the coming months, given the national liberal dollars flowing into the district to bolster his Democratic opponent.”

In May, the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia’s shifted the NC mountains district to “lean Republican” from “likely Republican” while last fall, the Cook Report made a similar tweak, moving the race “strong Republican” to “likely Republican.”