Three Counties, Two Congressional Races, One Late Replacement

In the High Country, your county decides which U.S. House race you see.

District 5 covers Watauga and Ashe. Republican Virginia Foxx, who has held the seat since 2005 and lists a Boone mailing address, faces Democrat Chuck Hubbard and Libertarian Robert B. Luffman for the U.S. House seat.

District 11 covers Avery, and its race changed in August. U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards ended his reelection bid on Aug. 5, two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured. The committee cited persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female staffers and said it found no evidence of sexual activity. Edwards denies the conduct was sexual or romantic. He remains the district's congressman and says he will finish his term, which ends in January.

Edwards had already won the March primary, so voters never got to choose his replacement. State law hands that job to the party. On Aug. 10, a 61-member Republican committee for the district picked state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom of Henderson County as the Republican nominee for Congress, choosing her from six candidates. She is Jennifer Capps Balkcom on the ballot. She faces Democrat Jamie Ager and Libertarian Travis Groo, and voters decide among the three on Nov. 3.