Hayden Rogers

Rogers served as chief of staff for 11th District U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler for most of Shuler's six years in office, then stepped down to run for the job himself as the Democratic nominee in 2012 when Shuler decided not to seek re-election. Redistricting had made the 11th more friendly for Republicans and Rogers lost to Mark Meadows, who still holds the seat. After two-and-a-half years as chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, Rogers recently took a job as managing director of the Bockorny Group, a lobbying and consulting firm based in Washington. Rogers and his wife, president of Tri-County Community College, and two daughters live in Brasstown in Cherokee County. Rogers, a native of Robbinsville, said he liked working for Manchin but tired of the travel back and forth to Washington and missed seeing his family. Both Shuler and Manchin are conservative Democrats and Rogers' new employer advertises itself as a bipartisan lobbying firm with contacts among Democrats and Republicans. Bockorny Group mostly represents trade groups and corporate clients.