North Carolina’s 11th and 8th congressional districts were competitive under the old redistricting plan crafted by Democrats. So you can imagine how much fiercer that competition is under the new Republican plan that makes the districts significantly more friendly to the GOP.
Republican candidates certainly understand that. Even though candidate filing doesn’t open for another month (it runs Feb. 13-29), 11 candidates have announced in the 11th district and and seven candidates in the 8th district. (Yes, it would be nice if one more candidate announced in the 8th district, so that we could say “11 in the 11th,” and “eight in the 8th.”). That tally is provided by the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation’s election tracker.
In the 8th district, a seat now held by two-term Democrat Larry Kissell, only Republican opponents have announced. But in the 11th, three-term Democrat Heath Shuler has earned a primary opponent from his own party — Cecil Bothwell, a member of the Asheville City Council.
Depending on how the redistricting lawsuit pans out, we could see a protracted GOP battle in these two districts. Unless the electorate coalesces around one candidate, a runoff election is almost guaranteed. (A candidate must earn at least 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.)
Here are the Republican candidates who have announced in the respective districts:
8th District:
Scott Keadle, Dan Barry, Vernon Robinson, John Whitley, Richard Hudson, and Fred Steen.
11th District:
Dan Eichenbaum, Spence Campbell, Jeff Hunt, Chris Petrella, Ed Krause, Vance Patterson, Mark Meadows, Kenny West, and Ethan Wingfield.
