Politics

Ager taps McGrady, Gash for transition team

Chuck McGrady and Eric Gash will serve on Congressman-elect Jamie Ager's transition committee.

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 9, 2026

Congressman-elect Jamie Ager on Monday announced a 23-member bipartisan transition team that includes former state Rep. Chuck McGrady and Eric Gash of Hendersonville.

McGrady was a registered Republican during his political career as a Flat Rock Village Council member, Henderson County Planning Board member, Henderson County commissioner and state House member. He's now unaffiliated. Most recently, he led the successful campaign in favor of the $25 milion bond issue for farmland preservation in the county.

Gash, who was briefly a Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District seat in 2022 before withdrawing to tend to family health issues, is a minister who has also been an assistant principal, coach and athletic director at Hendersonville High School and principal of Bruce Drysdale Elementary School.

The transition team is made up of respected community members representing local government, law enforcement, agriculture, small business and non-profit advocacy from each of the district’s 16 counties and the Qualla Boundary, the Ager campaign said.

“These leaders know their communities and they know how to get stuff done," Ager said. "With their guidance, we’re going to listen to all 16 counties in Western North Carolina to ensure this region's priorities are represented in Washington, D.C.” 

Besides McGrady and Gash members include:

• Jesse Pope (Avery), CEO of Grandfather Mountain
• Antanette Mosley (Buncombe), Asheville City Council
• Terri Wells (Buncombe), County Commission
• Nathan Ramsey (Buncombe), President of Land of Sky Regional Council, former state House member 
• Tim Radford (Cherokee), Mayor of Murphy
• Bass Hyatt (Clay), Farmer
• Mark Buchanan (Clay), Sheriff
• Dirk Cody (Graham), North Carolina Board of Transportation
• Zeb Smathers (Haywood), Canton Mayor
• Kim Poteet (Jackson), Clerk of Superior Court
• Ronnie Beale (Macon), County Commission
• Mark Cody (Madison), Clerk of Superior Court
• Alan Wyatt (Madison), County Commission
• Susan Elliott (McDowell), Community Leader and Small Business Owner
• Bill Slagle (Mitchell), Executive Director of County Economic Development Commission
• Drey Phillips (Mitchell), Business Development
• Tangie Morgan (Polk), Mayor of Saluda
• Chief Michell Hicks (Qualla Boundary), Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
• Afton Darnell (Swain), Farmer
• David Whitmire (Transylvania), Business Owner
• John Robinson (Yancey), Clerk of Superior Court