HIGH-STAKES RACE
Vice president adds weight to race as campaign nears end
ELECTION 2026
Vice President JD Vance campaigned Monday for GOP candidates across North Carolina's most competitive congressional contests, adding more weight to the high-stakes races as the campaigns near their close.
The vice president appealed to voters from a commercial warehouse in Republican House candidate Jennifer Balkcom's hometown of Hendersonville, weeks before voters there are set to decide who will represent North Carolina's 11th Congressional District — traditionally a GOP stronghold that's become an unpredictable toss-up this cycle.
Vance pointed to Balkcom, GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley and House candidate Laurie Buckhout as examples of "warriors" who he promised would fight to continue the work the Trump administration had started while rejecting initiatives from establishment Democrats in Congress.
The vice president's North Carolina visit — his second in the past month — comes in a string of other stops he's made across the county in recent weeks as he stumps for Republican candidates in the off-year races that could determine congressional control. The GOP currently holds a narrow majority in both chambers, with a 218-214 margin in the House and a 53-47 margin in the Senate.
"The reason why we're fighting for them is because they are the rare breed that fights for the people of North Carolina first and is going to shake up that establishment and fight for you for a change," Vance told a crowd of cheering voters Monday.
Vance slams Ager as 'political royalty' while touting Helene relief for western NC
In a warehouse with folding chairs and hay bales framing the stage, Vance aimed to convince voters that Balkcom — an eighth-generation North Carolinian who grew up on an apple farm in Henderson County — is just like them.
Her Democratic opponent — Jamie Ager — Vance argued, is not.
"Jamie comes from Democrat political royalty," he said. "He was a man who, unlike the people in this room, were handed everything."
Ager — whose grandfather also represented NC-11 and whose brother Eric sits in the same N.C. House seat as their father once did — has pitched himself to voters as a working-class farmer while campaigning heavily on Helene relief.
Balkcom, a GOP state lawmaker, was vaulted into the race in August to replace the embattled Rep. Chuck Edwards with just three months to campaign.
But since then, she's received support from party leaders, with a near-immediate endorsement from President Donald Trump and financial support from key Republicans like House Speaker Mike Johnson.
But alongside his jabs at Ager, Vance on Monday touted the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest infusion of disaster relief, which he described as a result of Republican control.
The DOT announced $873 million in Helene relief on Monday, part of a larger $1.8 billion nationwide relief package. The N.C. Department of Transportation has previously said it expects to spend more than $6 billion in Helene recovery, with 80% of that number reimbursed by the federal government, The News & Observer previously reported.
"That highlights the contrast in this election, because when Democrats were in power, they were doing nothing for western North Carolina," Vance told voters. "And now that we have Republicans in power and people like Michael Whatley and Jennifer [Balkcom] advocating for you, we are making sure that this state gets the money it deserves to rebuild the lives of our fellow citizens."
Vance pans Roy Cooper as GOP support for Whatley shrinks
Vance spent much of his 30-minute remarks taking aim at Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper, echoing criticism that has become ubiquitous in Republicans' messaging in the N.C. Senate race by slamming Cooper's move to "release violent criminals" into North Carolina.
As Cooper led the state through the COVID-19 pandemic and refused to release 18,000 prisoners, advocacy groups sued over prison conditions and won a favorable ruling from a judge. In response, state officials agreed to a settlement that called for the release of at least 3,500 prisoners who were near the end of their sentences, The News & Observer previously reported.
But Vance also argued Cooper's loyalties lie with establishment Democrats like Chuck Schumer — who has long backed the former governor's campaign.
"Don't judge the man by his well-produced TV advertisements," Vance said. "Roy Cooper is going to vote exactly how his boss tells him to vote, and his boss is not the people in this room. His boss is Chuck Schumer."
Vance's visit comes at a time of waning GOP confidence in Whatley. National Republican groups paused ad spending in the N.C. Senate race earlier this month, shifting resources to other key races in what was seen as a warning sign for GOP investment in the race.
And as North Carolina's early voting stretches into its second week, Whatley has continued to lag behind Cooper in polls, as he has in every poll since July 2025.
But Vance also used his appearance to support Buckhout — a Republican candidate running in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District in another razor-thin race — and to align her incumbent opponent, Rep. Don Davis, with establishment Democrats like former President Joe Biden.
A protester sitting directly behind Vance disrupted his speech within the first few minutes and was removed by security to chants of "USA." But the disruption only fueled Vance's critiques of what he called the "radical left."
"We know what the guy yelling at us behind us stood for, and we know what the far-left Democrats like Don Davis stand for," Vance said. "They stand for the idea that your government exists for fraudsters, or criminals, or illegal aliens. When we know the American government exists for American citizens — that's who it belongs to."
