Balkcom took $1,000 from Syngenta amid paraquat lawsuits

North Carolina state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom took donations from a pesticide company whose products made farmers sick.

Balkcom is now the Republican candidate for Congress in the state’s 11th District. She became the nominee after incumbent Rep. Chuck Edwards was forced to step aside over allegations of sexual harassment.

In September 2025, a PAC representing the agrichemical company Syngenta donated $1,000 to Balkcom. The company donates to both Democrats and Republicans, but more than 83% of its 2024 contributions went to the GOP.

Syngenta announced in March that it would cease production of paraquat, an herbicide that has been linked to Parkinson’s disease. Thousands of lawsuits accuse Syngenta of deliberately hiding that link. At least 12 states are considering banning or restricting the chemical.

This is not the first time Syngenta has been accused of malfeasance. The company paid a $1.5 billion settlement to corn producers in 2018 after it spread a genetically modified corn seed without proper approvals. China rejected corn imports grown with the seed, devastating more than 600,000 American growers, grain handlers, and ethanol plants.

As Syngenta was making people sick, Balkcom was pushing for health care cuts. She praised the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will impose a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid over the next decade. Almost 19,000 people in Balkcom’s district are expected to lose health insurance as a result.

Balkcom’s Democratic opponent is farmer Jamie Ager.