But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Jamie Ager
Democrat · U.S. House, North Carolina District 11
?Mixed
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In a July 2026 campaign Facebook post he says he takes no money from corporate PACs or "foreign lobbying entities like AIPAC", without saying where he stands on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
In a February 2026 interview, Ager said U.S. leverage should be used to restrain unacceptable conduct in Gaza, Smoky Mountain News reported. Nothing located has him saying whether he would keep, condition or cut U.S. weapons for the government of Israel. He refuses money from AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group.
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Jamie Ager is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina's 11th District, in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He is a farmer: he owns and runs Hickory Nut Gap, a sustainable meat business on his family's farm outside Fairview, and he advanced from the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026. On November 3 he faces Jennifer Balkcom, whom the district's Republicans chose in August to replace Representative Chuck Edwards on the ballot, and Travis Groo, the Libertarian. He has never held office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks are his.
In a February 2026 interview before the primary, Smoky Mountain News reported that Ager said U.S. leverage should be used to restrain unacceptable conduct in Gaza. When he entered the race in July 2025, the same paper described him as "critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and concerned that blind allegiance to Israel has become a partisan issue." Both are the reporter's summaries of what he said, not quotations of him.
On July 1, 2026, his campaign wrote on Facebook that being a Mountain Democrat also means "keeping our taxpayer dollars spent here and not on wars overseas", and: "I don't take a dime of money from corporate PACs or foreign lobbying entities like AIPAC, and my number one promise will always be to fight for you." AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a lobbying group that works to strengthen the U.S.-Israel partnership. Refusing a group's money is not a position on what the United States sends.
Nothing located has him saying whether he would vote to keep, condition or cut U.S. weapons and money for the government of Israel, or anything on U.S. aid to Palestinians, and his campaign platform has no section on foreign policy.
You are better placed to change this than we are. Ask Ager directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words, which is worth more than anything we could write about him.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
In their words
“I don't take a dime of money from corporate PACs or foreign lobbying entities like AIPAC, and my number one promise will always be to fight for you.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
[Position, 2026-02-11] A primary profile by Smoky Mountain News, published 2026-02-11, reports his interview answers: "On foreign policy, Ager expressed support for Ukraine and said U.S. leverage should be used to restrain unacceptable conduct in Gaza." The reporter's summary of his answer, not a quotation of him. The profile does not say what leverage, or whose conduct.
[Position, 2026-07-01] His campaign's Facebook post of July 1 says being a Mountain Democrat "also means keeping our taxpayer dollars spent here and not on wars overseas". A general statement; it does not name Israel or Gaza.
No statement located on whether he would keep, condition or cut U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located on U.S. humanitarian funding for Palestinians, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or the Gaza aid pipeline.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2025-07-29] Announcing his campaign, Ager was described by Smoky Mountain News as "critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and concerned that blind allegiance to Israel has become a partisan issue"; the words are the reporter's summary, not a quotation. The same sentence of the article is the source for the lobbying-related words below.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2025-07-29] The same Smoky Mountain News article reports his concern "that blind allegiance to Israel has become a partisan issue"; the reporter's words, not his.
[Position, 2026-07-01] His campaign's Facebook post, on the page titled "Jamie Ager for Congress": "I don't take a dime of money from corporate PACs or foreign lobbying entities like AIPAC, and my number one promise will always be to fight for you." A pledge about campaign money, not a position on what the United States sends. AIPAC describes itself as "an American grassroots organization that works to strengthen the U.S.-Israel partnership".
[Position, 2026-07-01] He signed "The Promise to America" on July 1, which the Asheville Daily Planet describes as "a centrist Democratic pledge aimed at rejecting socialist policies and returning to a moderate, mainstream political identity." The paper's account of the pledge does not mention foreign policy.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
Nothing located addressing antisemitism or the safety of Jewish communities.
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Read 2026-09-26] His campaign platform has ten sections: Hurricane Helene recovery, healthcare, lowering costs, government waste and corruption, immigration, veterans and military families, small businesses and jobs, local farms and food, the environment and public lands, and community safety. None concerns foreign policy, and the words Israel, Gaza, Palestinians and AIPAC do not appear on it or on his campaign home page.
[Read 2026-09-26] His Ballotpedia profile calls him "the owner and operator of Hickory Nut Gap, which he describes as a sustainable meat producer" and carries no candidate questionnaire answers on the subject.
[Read 2026-09-26] The Leadership Now Project's candidate page summarizes his platform as "rural economic development, agricultural policy, affordability, and Hurricane Helene recovery for western North Carolina."
The race
Ballotpedia's race table lists three general-election candidates: Jamie Ager (D), Jennifer Balkcom (R) and Travis Groo (L). Representative Chuck Edwards (R), who won the Republican primary, suspended his campaign on August 5, 2026, and the district's Republicans chose Balkcom to replace him. Each has a card of their own.
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
Three Reddit discussion threads that mention him (third-party discussion, not a source for his positions; not opened for this card): https://www.reddit.com/r/asheville/comments/1qeibl9/has_jamie_ager_said_anything_about_ice_or/ , https://www.reddit.com/r/asheville/comments/1urxveb/i_hope_jamie_ager_wins_this_race_but_if_he_loses/ , https://www.reddit.com/r/NorthCarolina/comments/1uiilzi/i_think_jamie_ager_will_lose_to_chuck_edwards/
Not on the card, and why
His support for aid to Ukraine and his remarks on Greenland and Venezuela: different questions from what the United States sends to the government of Israel.
The "Promise to America" pledge: about his party positioning, not this subject.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://smokymountainnews.com/news/news-latest/democrats-sense-opportunity-in-storm-ravaged-nc-11/ ; opened ; 2026-09-26 (published 2026-02-11; the older address https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/40868-democrats-sense-opportunity-in-storm-ravaged-nc-11 redirects here)
https://smokymountainnews.com/archived/archived-news/jamie-ager-enters-nc-11-race-with-message-of-rural-roots-business-acumen/ ; opened ; 2026-09-26 (published 2025-07-29)
https://www.facebook.com/JamieAgerNC/posts/what-i-stand-for-is-simple-im-a-mountain-democrat-always-have-been-always-will-b/122170947986952465/ ; opened ; 2026-09-26 (campaign page post dated July 1)
https://agerforcongress.com/platform ; opened ; 2026-09-26
https://agerforcongress.com/ ; opened ; 2026-09-26
https://ballotpedia.org/Jamie_Ager ; opened ; 2026-09-26
https://leadershipnowproject.org/candidates/jamie-ager/ ; opened ; 2026-09-26 (modified 2026-06-23)
https://www.ashevilledailyplanet.com/news/7794-dem-congressional-candidate-ager-signs-the-promise ; opened ; 2026-09-26 (dated 12 July 2026)
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps.
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