Politics

Democrat Russo flips State House District 117 seat

By Amy McCraw, Published: November 4, 2026

Hendersonville Democrat Lynne Russo flipped a state house seat from red to blue Tuesday when unofficial election results showed she defeated Republican Chelsea Walsh.

With all 27 precincts in the State House District 117 race reporting late Tuesday, results showed Russo earned 51.74 percent of the vote to the 48.26 percent of the vote Walsh received.
Russo received 22,710 votes while Walsh earned 21,180 votes.
By Wednesday afternoon, Russo had heard congratulations on her win from North Carolina Governor Josh Stein.
She said she at first missed the governor’s call and referred to herself simply as Lynne Russo when she called him back.
“He said, ‘No, that’s Representative-elect Lynne Russo,” she said with a laugh.
Russo credited her win with the hard work she put in listening to voters beginning in May 2025.
“I really spent time listening and meeting with folks,” she said. “People could see my heart was in it.”
She thanked voters who put their trust in her to make a difference in Raleigh.
“All this is about change,” she said.
Once she begins work in the state legislature, Russo said she plans to focus on the area’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene. She said she also wants to meet with farmers to better understand their needs and concerns.
State House District 117 has been the scene of the most drama this election season. It was the domino that fell when U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards withdrew from the race, triggering the decision by Republican leaders in the 11th Congressional District to nominate Jennifer Balkcom for the seat. That led in turn to the decision by the Henderson County Republican Party Executive Committee to nominate Walsh for the state house seat left vacant when Balkcom moved to the U.S. House race.
The decision to nominate Walsh guaranteed that the district would be represented by a woman. Russo, a communications consultant, was the Democratic nominee for the seat.
Russo, 55, chose Hendersonville as her home and was living in the area when Hurricane Helene hit. She has been involved in advocating for hurricane recovery in Western North Carolina. Russo graduated from the University of Minnesota and has owned a communications consulting business for 23 years, working with nonprofits and education organizations.
Russo told the Lightning before Tuesday’s election that she ran for the N.C. 117 seat because Western North Carolina needs a representative who shows up with real solutions, not slogans. “For 16 months, I have sat at kitchen tables, knocked on doors and listened to families still rebuilding after Helene. What I heard shaped a concrete platform: suspending the grocery tax for one year with the state covering lost local revenue, creating a state health insurance option, and launching the Rebuild WNC Skilled Trades Corps to train reconstruction workers” she said. “I will work across party lines to lower costs, strengthen public schools, finish Helene recovery and restore local decision making.”
Walsh, 38, graduated from East Henderson High School before earning a degree in risk management and insurance from Appalachian State University. Walsh works in insurance and Medicare, helping individuals and families across the country.
Walsh told the Lightning before Tuesday’s election that she was running for the state house seat because the community needs help. “Whether it’s Hurricane Helene funding, fighting the opioid epidemic, lowering property taxes for everyone, including those on fixed incomes- the need to represent the district doesn’t just stop at party talking points. Having grown up in Henderson County, the relationships I’ve spent decades building will be represented well in Raleigh. I’ve been representing Henderson County for decades, even without being on a ballot,” she said.