Democrats finally decided to take rural America seriously – and won big | Anthony Flaccavento and Erica Etelson

Democrats won over rural voters from Maga in the midterms by focusing more on working people and less on culture wars

Long before Jamie Ager entered politics, he was making a name for himself in a very different place: the meat counter of a grocery store in Boone, North Carolina.

It was the early 2000s, and Ager owned and operated Hickory Nut Gap, a regenerative farm near Asheville. Over the next 20 years, he helped build a regional food system that delivered healthier food to thousands of people, improved land stewardship and made farming a bit more profitable.