A Genuine Hero Joins the NC11 Republican Primary for Congress

 

Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene caused $60 billion in damage across North Carolina, most local governments still haven’t received anywhere near the amount of money they’ve been promised by the federal government, with estimates coming in at less than 10%.

--Cory Vaillancourt, Smoky Mountain News

Adam Smith, getting a B12 shot in his backside in October 2024, inside the
Harley Davidson dealership operations HDQs for Savage Freedom
Photo Khadejeh Nikouyeh for the NandO

Congressman Chuck Edwards from Flat Rock, who took over Mark Meadows' old House seat after beating Madison Cawthorn in the Republican primary, has drawn his own primary challenger -- a big man with a huge reputation, Adam Smith, a former Green Beret and a local hero all around Swannanoa and throughout Buncombe County and now well beyond. He organized on-the-ground and in-the-air relief operations following Hurricane Helene, eventually named and capitalized it as the non-profit Savage Freedom Operations, with helicopters delivering supplies to people cut off by landslides and washed-out roads. It grew quickly into a large-scale relief effort operating out of a Harley-Davidson parking lot in Swannanoa, where Smith built a make-shift heliport. Smith eventually recruited a couple thousand more volunteers who were willing and capable of performing all sorts of work -- rebuilding private bridges, restoring roads, clearing debris. Adam Smith was their leader, their organizer, their trouble-shooter. He obviously knows how to get stuff done. Which makes like a formidable guy for Chuck Edwards to beat next March. (Take a look at his website.)

The Savage Freedom origin story has all kinds of cinematic appeal. When Hurricane Helene struck Western NC, Adam Smith's own wife and three-year-old daughter were up visiting friends on the Broad River outside Asheville -- in a house not more than 30 yards from the river. “I legitimately didn’t think there was any hope,” Smith said, but he was determined and resourceful like a Green Beret. With buddies who flew helicopters. And get them out he did.

What began as a mission to save his family quickly expanded when he realized the full scale of the disaster. Witnessing countless others trapped and desperate for help, Smith was joined by fellow veterans, volunteers, and resources under the banner of Savage Freedoms Relief Operations.

In the days that followed, the team grew into an agile, grassroots force—dubbed the “Redneck Air Force”—flying critical supplies into cut-off communities, conducting search-and-rescue missions, and restoring communication with STARLINK systems. Savage Ops became the lifeline for those forgotten by traditional disaster response, cementing its role as a symbol of resilience, ingenuity, and community-driven action. (Savage Freedom website)

"Savage Freedom’s response to Helene was the largest grassroots relief effort in the region, with thousands of volunteers, hundreds of air sorties, millions of pounds of supplies and nearly $700,000 raised in a month" (Vaillancourt).

When Trump was in Swannanoa following the storm to promise stuff he had no intention of delivering and to mime how concerned he was with the plight of people, Adam Smith got to introduce him at the podium and just incidentally lay the philosophical groundwork for challenging MAGA trooper Chuck Edwards next year and implicitly ding what Trump 2.0 was about to do via DOGE and presidential ExecOrders to not only disaster relief in Western NC but to all sorts of other agencies the people rely on. Smith said to Trump, “The biggest fear that Western North Carolina is sitting on right now ... is being forgotten. To have you here and have an opportunity to have this conversation at a national level will keep Western North Carolina on the map and not leave the communities holding the bag on the back end of this.”

Chuck Edwards

Holding the bag is exactly what's happened to the western mtns. The statistics in the headnote to this post don't even mention that the $110 billion relief bill passed by Congress last December -- much ballyhooed by Congressman Edwards, who claimed to have written it specifically for his district -- will dole out a paltry $15 billion to NC11 (at most -- $9 billion is more likely). Governor Stein recently begged the Trump people for some $13.5 billion -- quick! Quick ain't happening.

So Adam Smith is running against Edwards' handling of the disaster and his absence from accountability. Vaillancourt did a lengthy interview with Smith for the Smoky Mountain News. Smith comes across as a level-headed straight shooter, not a MAGAtron robot with a predictable hard line. He's clearly intelligent and offered Vaillancourt an interesting national bond idea for lowering the national debt. Of course he supports Trump on tariffs (really?) and immigration, but I don't see him parroting Trump like the rest of that tribe are pleased to do, slavishly without thinking, just as reflex.