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Democratic candidates for the 11th Congressional District ask for support from primary voters

Mark Warwick from local radio station WTZQ introduces Democratic candidates for the 11th Congressional District during a forum Saturday. The candidates from left to right are: Zelda Briarwood, Jamie Ager, Lee Whipple, Paul Maddox and Richard Hudspeth.

By Amy McCraw, Published: January 24, 2026

Of the five candidates who attended a forum Saturday morning, one Democratic contender for the 11th Congressional District responded to a medical emergency and another left the event early as a winter storm began moving into the region.

A Democratic nominee will be chosen during the March 3 primary to face the winner of the Republican primary — either incumbent Chuck Edwards of Flat Rock or challenger Adam Smith of Fairview in Buncombe County.
At least 100 people attended the forum hosted by Henderson County’s Democratic Party at the county’s Historic Courthouse on Main Street. The standing-room-only crowd filled a room on the second floor where Mark Warwick, a nonpartisan community leader from local radio station WTZQ, moderated the event.
Just as candidate Richard Hudspeth, a physician and former CEO of the non-profit community health center Blue Ridge Health, began to answer a question from Warwick about women’s reproductive health care, calls for a doctor came from the back of the room.
Hudspeth then rushed to where a man was lying on top of table surrounded by other members of the forum’s audience. The doctor attended to the man for a few minutes before the man sat up and moved to a nearby chair.
Hudspeth returned to the front of the room and resumed his answer after caring for the man.
He said women should have the right to control their bodies.
As a doctor, he said he treated women with different kinds of issues during their pregnancies.
“I’ve been trained to help and not to judge,” he said.
Paul Maddox, a cancer researcher and professor from Burnsville, also answered questions for most of the forum along with Hudspeth and candidates Zelda Briarwood, a mental health professional from Canton; Jamie Ager, a fourth-generation farmer, entrepreneur and grandson of former U.S. Congressman James M. "Jamie" Clarke and Engineer Lee Whipple of Asheville.
Maddox, who described himself as half-hillbilly and half-scientist, left the event early saying he drove through snow to reach the forum and needed to leave early to gather firewood.
The candidates took aim at Edwards’ record in Congress, particularly his response to Hurricane Helene.
In response to a question about how the federal government should assist in the ongoing recovery from the hurricane and the next disaster, Ager said that the area continues to struggle to recover from the Sept. 2024 storm.
Western North Carolina is not receiving the money from the federal government that it should to recover, he said.
Ager said if elected he would be a leader who would show up for the community.
“We never saw Chuck Edwards after that storm,” he said.
Whipple said his experience as a civil engineer would help him respond to emergencies as a member of Congress.
He said FEMA and the Trump administration have failed to adequately respond to the hurricane or get money moving to the mountains.
“We have to hold these men accountable,” he said.
Briarwood said WNC has only received 8 percent of the money it should have received to recover from Helene.
She blamed Edwards for failing to secure the money for hurricane recovery.
“We have historically received the least amount related to any other hurricane,” she said.
If elected, she said she would work at the state level and national level to get the funds the area needs to recover.
Briarwood said she also wanted to work toward having climate change resistant infrastructure and lead an audit of FEMA to improve the federal government’s response to disasters.
Hudspeth said defeating Edwards and holding federal officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accountable is the first step in getting hurricane recovery on track.
“We need her at her desk signing checks for Western North Carolina,” he said of Noem. “She should be impeached.”
Madoxx said most of the recovery from Helene so far as happened only because people are taking care of problems in their communities by themselves. The area has only received about 10 percent of what it is due from the federal government, he said.
Madoxx described a sagging powerline in one community that has been held up by a tree branch someone placed under it shortly after the storm.
“It’s working, but that’s not the way it’s supposed to be,” he said to laughter from the audience.
In response to a question about improving access to healthcare in the region, the candidates said the federal government should do more.
Hudspeth said he was the only candidate to put out a proposal to fix healthcare in the United States by providing universal healthcare coverage.
“Don’t let people tell you we can’t do this,” he said, noting that the United States spends more than the rest of the world on healthcare but sees terrible outcomes.
The healthcare problem can be fixed with a national health care plan, he said.
He said he thought healthcare subsidies through the Affordable Care Act are not enough.
“They are a Band-Aid on a hemorrhaging patient,” he said.
Madoxx said cuts to his cancer research in the spring propelled him to run for office.
“Cancer doesn’t care about politics. Funding research is a central factor in our lives,” he said. “We need to get to the bottom of why these cuts were made.”
Whipple said he supported a Medicare-For-All policy and would support mobile clinics as a temporary solution to the healthcare problem.
Ager said in his travels around WNC healthcare is on the front of many people’s minds because of Affordable Care Act subsidies expiring.
If elected, he said he would work to reinstate the subsidies, address the need for rural hospitals and find a way to provide affordable prescription drugs.
Briarwood also described healthcare in the United States as a broken system.
Many people’s lack of insurance causes them to be “priced out” of healthcare, she said.
“Healthcare is a human right. Insurance companies’ purpose is profit. Certain industries should not be for profit,” Briarwood said.
Warwick also asked the candidates how the federal government can support local farms.
As a family farmer, Ager said he was very familiar with the issue.
The federal government, he said, subsidizes row crops grown in areas where land is flat.
“We don’t have enough flat land,” he said of the apple orchards grown in Henderson County and other crops grown in the mountains.
He said he believed encouraging people to buy products from local farms would help keep farmers on their land and keep the land away from developers.
Briarwood said she thought farms should be subsidized to prevent them from being sold for either large corporate farms or data centers.
Whipple said he thought farms need tax breaks and credits to thrive.
Madoxx described small farms as an important local industry. He said people who farm small areas of land should get tax rebates.
Hudspeth said tax policies, conservancy and land use taxes could help farmers.
Ending tariffs and a tax credit for people who grow their own food could also help, he said.
“Farmers don’t want a government handout,” he said.
The forum lasted more than two hours on Saturday with candidates answering other questions addressed to all candidates and participating in a “lightning round” that included questions specifically for each candidate.
The candidates offered closing comments before heading for home and the remainder of a weekend likely dominated by winter weather.
Hudspeth encouraged those who attended to consider the seriousness of the problems in the world today and his plans to address healthcare.
“We are in a time like no other. This truly does feel different,” he said. “Think about having a physician on the ballot to offer a healthcare plan.”
Ager said he “wasn’t sure about enjoying this process of running for Congress” when he began his campaign. But he said has enjoyed the time he has spent hearing people’s stories, meeting new people and talking about issues with voters who live in the mountains he has always called home.
“Home is one of the best words. Western North Carolina is home to me,” he said.
Whipple led the audience in a chant of “Beat Chuck” before saying he was the best candidate to lead the recovery from Helene because of his background as a civil engineer.
Briarwood said younger generations are looking to current leaders to determine if those leaders care about their future and their ability to have a middle-class life.
“They want to know they have the same opportunities as someone in 1965,” she said.
Her experience working with people dealing with addiction and recovery issues also makes her the best candidate to have conversations with people about what is most important, Briarwood said, noting that she has been clean and sober for seven years.
Madoxx gave his closing comments before he left the forum early.
He thanked the people who attended the forum and said he believed Democrats are going to win in November.
“We are going to beat Chuck Edwards,” he said.