Fairview, NC (AP) – Jamie Agerer has spent a huge part of the past year to rebuild his farm in the foothills of the Western North Carolina after the hurricane Helene was torn through the region, cut power, destroyed fences and scales the cattle.
At the beginning of this year, Agerer lost his beef contract with local schools, a victim of billions of dollars of cuts to the US Agriculture Ministry under the Trump administration.
Now the fifth generation farmer is running for the congress part of a new harvest of democratic candidates to which the party is trying to compete in the tough, often rural districts that they may need to turn around in order to recapture the US house in 2026.
Democrats say these new recruits are uniquely suitable to break in districts in which President Donald Trump’s popularity dominates. Many, like AGER, are already a well -known presence in their communities. And in parts of North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan and elsewhere, the party can ensure that local credibility can reduce skepticism where the democratic brand has fallen.
Ager says he sees national democrats as not with rural life as “academic” and “politically correct and written”.
“It’s just not what people are interested in,” he says. “The ideas of helping poor people to be neighborly, the ideal to do these things are probably good, good ideas that are actually popular. However, the execution of many of these ideas has not been carried out well.”
A changing house map
The Democrats believe that the Democrats believe that there is dynamics on their side. Historically, the president’s party loses ground in the meantime. In 2018, while Trump’s first term, the Democrats turned 41 to take control of the house. The Republicans are currently checking the house by such a slim lead. The Democrats only have to take a few seats to break the GOP stop in Washington.
The tax relief and expenditure cuts conducted by the Republicans have contributed to the optimism of the Democrats. About two thirds of US-growing people expect the new law to aid the opulent, according to a survey by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research. Half says that it is more useful for people and people how they are more useful.
Nevertheless, the Republicans remain confident. They point out that less susceptible seats have this cycle than Democrats. Only three Republicans hold the democrat Kamala Harris won last year, while 13 Democrats who won Trump represented.
Even after the losses of last year, they notice the little opinion of the Democrats about their own party. In an AP-NORC survey in July, the Democrats were probably negative of their own party as Republicans, with many Democrats called it weakly or ineffective.
In places where the local dynamics can give the Democrat a shot, this means particularly critical to find the right candidates, say party leaders.
“The recruitment of matters in these years in which the environment will be competitive,” said Democratic Tours of John Anzalone.
Democrats hope that a farmer in the west of North Carolina can regain trust
With electricity, water and telecommunications due to the hurricane last year, Agers Hickory Nut Gap Farm was geared towards a hub for the community cookouts and propane used to grill food for neighbors.
Nationwide, the storm caused almost 60 billion US dollars and killed more than 100 people. Little Federal Aid has reached the hardest parts of Western North Carolina.
“Helene, who strikes, definitely has an exclamation mark for” Whoa “,” Whoa “, we need help and support,” said Agerer.
Democrats see Ager as a high-risk candidate with a high reward, which could be successful in a district in which the Democrats have to struggle.
No democrat has won North Carolina’s 11th congress district since it was re -drawn by the republican legislature in 2011. A judicial redistribution before the 2020 elections made it a little cheaper for Democrats, which Asheville and a huge part of the western North Carolina included. Republican MP Chuck Edwards still won almost 14 percentage points last year and is expected to re -election.
Grayson Barnette, a democratic strategist who helped to recruit AGER, said in some districts that it was a risk of leading a candidate who has not yet held a elected office.
“But I would argue that this is a good thing, especially if the Democrats were just achieving great success,” said Barnette. “We have to look in the mirror and say: ‘Let’s try something new.”
In a district, in which almost 62% of residents live in areas with very low density, Barnette believes that the identity of ager-as business owners, trainers and father could cut through with deep local roots. His unpolished, direct style, he says, could swing more with a polished political résumé.
In the video in which he starts his campaign, Agerer shows floods on the farm and can be seen on the veranda of his house, feeding chickens, driving a tractor and spending time with his wife and three sons.
“I’m not striking, but I’m honest,” he says in the video.
In the approximately two -minute video, Ager rarely used the word during a three -hour interview. Nevertheless, his connections to the party run deep: his brother serves in the State House and steps into her father’s footsteps. His grandfather served in the US house for six years.
When asked whether this could be liability in the district, Ager shrugged: “Then don’t vote for me.”
Trump’s substantial bill could change a conservative district to Michigan
Senator Sean McCann is a different kind of Ager candidate in West -Michigan. He was buttoned and spoken quietly with a long resume in chosen office and deep roots in Kalamazoo after winning a seat in the State House for a decade in the city commission in 2010.
In a district anchored by conservative and religious values, the Democrats see McCann as a steady, experienced personality that can reconcile – especially as setbacks to Trump’s tax law, which includes profound expenses.
At a recent meeting in the Kalamazoo family health center, in which almost 65% of the patients rely on Medicaid, the president warned that the proposed Medicaid shortcuts would be devastating.
“It’s about being at home in the community and listening to the values of our community – and carrying them to Washington,” said McCann.
The district is represented by the Republican MP Bill Huizenga, who won almost 12 percentage points in 2022. But Huizenga did not say whether he would strive for a further term, and Trump bore the district in 2024 by only 5.5 percentage points.
Democrats hope that powerful ties will aid elsewhere
Throughout the country, Democrats observe similar races in places such as Iowa and Kentucky, where local candidates run with powerful community bonds. In Iowas 2. District, the state MP Lindsay James-a Fourt-Zug legislator and Presbyterian pastor-one run in the northeastern part of the state. In Kentucky’s 6th, which also includes Lexington and Richmond, the former state prosecutor Zach Dembo carries out his first campaign and describes himself as a political outsider.
It is a mixture of profiles: Ager, the farmer who becomes a hurricane neighbor. McCann, the officer with health staff in his hometown. And others like you try to connect a skeptical electorate again.
“Yes, the Democratic Party has a bit suspicious,” said Agerer. “But when I speak to Republicans who are friends I knew forever, there is real admiration and mutual respect for each other. And that comes from being in this community forever.”
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This story was corrected to show that McCann is a senator, not a state representative.
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Associated Press Reporter Maya Sweedler in Washington contributed to this report.
