Vote totals are to be made official Tuesday, May 11, and Eichenbaum has until Thursday, May 13 to request a recount.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100506/ARTICLES/5061018

Miller runs a family business in Hendersonville, which has been in operation for generations, and is best known for organizing Henderson County Honor Air, dedicated to flying World War II veterans to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., free of charge.

http://www.honorair.com/

Learn more about Mr. Miller here:

http://jeffmiller2010.com/

Meanwhile, in the Democrat Primary, incumbent Heath Shuler was opposed by 40% of the party, including losing Buncombe County, the District’s most populous.  Shuler has caused unrest among some Democrat voters, most notably for voting twice against the health care bill.  He has tried to dance around his problem that NC-11 is a generally Conservative district, but with an ultra-liberal enclave, (Asheville) by passing himself off as a “Blue Dog” or conservative Democrat.  It appears that is costing him a good part of his base.

Certainly 40% of Democrats will not vote against him in the general election, but it’s clear that some will, and almost as good, it is likely many of them will stay home.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100505/ARTICLES/5051015/1042/news?Title=Shuler-opponent-draws-40-percent-of-vote-in-race

Miller still faces an uphill battle, as Shuler has a huge cash advantage, and wide name recognition, even beyond his incumbency.  It is also fair to say Shuler was not in full campaign mode for the primary.

However, NC-11 is a district that John McCain won handily in 2008, and was represented by a Republican from 1990, until Shuler’s election in 2006.  Hopefully the party will see this district as one that can be taken back in November.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_North_Carolina,_2008#By_congressional_district

NC-11

The 11th District is represented by Heath Shuler, (D) just elected for a 2nd term by a 62% – 36% margin. Before Mr. Shuler, the seat was held for 16 years by Charles Taylor, (R). Prior to that, the seat switched parties five times between 1978 and 1990.

Mr. Taylor was defeated by Mr. Shuler in 2006. Factors included accusations of corruption on the part of Mr. Taylor, and general disgruntlement with the Republican brand nationwide. Other factors included Mr. Shuler’s strategy to align himself with the “Blue Dog” Democrats, who positioned themselves as more conservative Democrats, and Mr. Shuler’s wide name recognition in the district as an accomplished high school quarterback, later continued at the University of Tennessee. Mr. Shuler also participated in the National Football League with the Washington Redskins.

Outside of Asheville, this is a generally conservative district, which should be competitive for a good conservative candidate. However, Mr. Shuler in 2008 extended his power of incumbency, which will be more and more difficult to overcome over time. This came about largely because Mr. Shuler did not do anything to upset the district during his first term, and because there was not a strong field of candidates to contest him.

Mr. Shuler was opposed in 2008 by Dr. Carl Mumpower, an Asheville city councilman, who won a primary over two candidates who had not yet held elected office. Dr. Mumpower ran on a campaign of principles, refusing money from PACs, as well as from the Republican Party. By design, Dr. Mumpower raised little money, and got most of his publicity badgering local Republicans about returning to core values. Right or wrong, Dr. Mumpower’s principled self remains at home in Asheville, while Mr. Shuler prepares shortly to vote to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

[Mumpower's site]
(http://www.mumpower08.com/)

One other unfortunate by-product of the lightly contested race is that Mr. Shuler was forced to spend little money defending his seat, presumably putting himself in better financial position for 2010. I don’t recall hearing a single radio or TV ad for Mr. Shuler the entire campaign.

There is some discussion already that Mr. Shuler may run for Richard Burr’s Senate seat in 2010.
Shuler for Senate?
Also see: dld1717’s diary:
[dld1717's diary]
(http://www.redstate.com/diaries/dld1717/2008/nov/21/early-2010-senate-race-updates-az-nc-nv/)

Barring that, I believe it will take a massive failure of the Democratic Congress and Presidency to unseat Mr. Shuler. (Which is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.) Otherise, he has the name recognition, and it will take a lot of money to counter that, whoever the candidate turns out to be. He has shown so far an ability not to be perceived as too far left. His next opponent will want to tie him to Speaker Pelosi, from whom Mr. Shuler tries to distance himself in public.

One potential candidate reported to be considering a bid is retired 3 term Henderson County Sheriff George Ervin. Also, the Hendersonville Times-News had an online poll recently asking readers to choose from 7 different potential Republican candidates for 2010. I don’t know how they arrived at the list, or if any of those listed are actually considering running.

Sheriff Erwin for Congress?

[Times-News GOP poll 2010]
(http://www.blueridgenow.com/section/pollarchive )