Free Republic

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) will not run for re-election this year, a source close to the Congressman told Roll Call. The Blue Dog Democrat had decided against a bid in a redrawn 11th district, which was made substantially more Republican than his current district during GOP-led redistricting.

So the “Super Committee” has failed, but who thought it would succeed? Defective from its very conception, the Super Committee concept allowed Congress to ignore basic constitutional obligations and the principles of governance created by our founders. And so it failed both us and our Constitution. When Congress compromises on principle, as it usually does, the result is a bad idea that only serves the political expediency of the “Incumbent Party” inside the Beltway. In this case, the “bad idea” was the Super Committee itself, whose inevitable failure was designed to supply campaign fodder for both parties to use against...

Republicans were unable to recruit a well-known challenger to Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) last cycle. But that is not likely to be the case in 2012, after a proposed Congressional map released last week indicated the western 11th district will become substantially more favorable to the GOP. ... Jeff Hunt, the district attorney for Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties, is considered the strongest candidate at this early point by key Republican operatives.

U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation, the Unlawful Border Entry Prevention Act, to allow for additional infrastructure to be built along the Southwest border. The bill provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with full discretionary authority to build as much as 350 miles of additional infrastructure on the border. The legislation is co-sponsored by congressmen Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), Vista’s Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas). It follows a report by the Government Accountability Office, stating that only 44 percent of the Southwest border is under operation...

A bill introduced in Congress today could lead to an additional 350 miles of fencing along the southwest border and would require the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress when apprehension activity climbs 40 percent year over year, if it is approved. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, authored the bill, titled “Unlawful Border Entry Prevention Act,” in response to a Government Accountability Report that found 44 percent of the southwest border is under “operational control” and 15 percent is totally secure. The legislation is co-sponsored by Republicans Brian Bilbray, Solana Beach, Ed Royce, Fullerton, and Ted Poe, Texas, and...

Heath Shuler won the 11th District House of Representatives seat in Western North Carolina. This election was bought as much as the next election in this district will be bought. Looking below at the 2010 election contributions, Mr. Shuler already has $1,220,901 in place for the 2012 election cycle. Fifty-eight percent of his contributions come from PACs. Since he already has more money on hand than he spent in the 2010 election cycle, he can literally do no additional fundraising for 2012. What is the first action in Congress that Mr. Shuler is attempting to do (after a senseless run...

Last week, by a vote of 143-50, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California was overwhelmingly elected leader of the Democratic minority for the next Congress over token opposition from Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina. Democrats also reelected the rest of their House leadership team, even though they had just suffered their worst electoral defeat since 1938. The vote showed that most Democrats still believe they did nothing to deserve their stunning electoral defeat this month. They blame the economy instead of their policies, and they have apparently convinced themselves that there's no relationship between the two. While President Obama did...

President Bill Clinton will campaign in western North Carolina next week for embattled Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler. Clinton will headline a Thursday rally for Shuler in downtown Asheville. The former president has been traveling the country campaigning and fundraising on behalf of vulnerable Democrats. Shuler, a sophomore lawmaker and former professional football player, faces a challenge from Republican Jeff Miller in the GOP-leaning 11th district. -- Kathleen Hunter

Rep. Heath Shuler is facing a new challenge, as news emerged in the Washington Examiner that Americans for Job Security, a conservative, “pro-business” non-profit, is putting $712,000 into advertising opposing the two-term Democratic congressman. The Examiner report, on three Democratic representatives the group is targeting with ad buys, notes that they’re spending “$712,000 against Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., a two-term Democrat in Asheville (NC-11) whom most people do not believe is terribly vulnerable this year. But with that kind of money-tide flowing against him, who knows? Just a few cycles ago, that was enough to fund a winning House campaign....

Republican congressional candidate Jeff Miller called on Congressman Heath Shuler to stop running a television ad that says Miller would privatize Social Security, saying the ad is false and scares senior citizens. [...] He told the group and members of several local media outlets who were present that when he saw the television ad for the first time on Wednesday, he couldn't believe it. "I'll never forget reading a story in the Citizen-Times written about Shuler not telling the truth when (reporter) John Boyle called him out and said he (Shuler) flat-out lied about a business deal with the TVA...

I had the opportunity to meet my congressman, Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N. C., at the Industrial Opportunities, Inc. (IOI) luncheon for military veterans on 8-26-10. I asked him several questions, including about his voting record. I asked why, in his four years in office, he has never had a face to face Town Hall meeting with his constituents. I previously tried to get an appointment to see him and called in to his two telephone Townhall meetings last summer, but I guess his call screeners did not like my questions. My question appeared to upset him and he replied that...

Raleigh, N.C. - The race for North Carolina’s 11th district Congressional seat is a dead heat (45 percent-44 percent) between Democratic incumbent Heath Shuler and Republican candidate Jeff Miller as the unaffiliated vote looks to become the deciding factor according to a new SurveyUSA poll released today by the Civitas Institute. According to the poll of 400 registered voters in that district, when asked who they would vote for if the election for United States House of Representatives were today, 45 percent of voters said they would vote for Shuler. Forty-four percent said they would vote for Miller, and 11...

The 11th Congressional District of North Carolina is one of the most closely contested districts in the state, and one could wind up in the Republican column come November. After voting in favor of the job-killing cap and trade bill, incumbent Democrat Heath Shuler will have a tough time proving to his constituents that he has stuck to his “conservative Democrat” title and not conformed to the job-crushing, tax increasing liberal agenda. His Republican competition, Jeff Miller, has not only won numerous awards for his service to the community, but his ideals are more in line with what constituents expect...

Here's new evidence that North Carolina's 11th district may develop into a "sleeper" race this fall. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Blue Dog Democrat, is polling under 50 percent in his conservative western North Carolina district and leading his relatively unknown GOP challenger by just 12 points, according polling conducted for the campaign of businessman Jeff Miller. The survey showed Shuler at 46 percent with Miller at 34 percent and 18 percent undecided. The poll of 300 likely general election voters was conducted for Miller's campaign June 1-3 by Public Opinion Strategies and had a 5.6-point margin of error. Miller, who...

Oops! On the heels of a story a couple of days ago which used Congressman Heath Shuler as a source about how racial slurs were probably hurled at the Washington, D.C. Tea Party on March 20, the Associated Press has been forced to backtrack. Here is how AP writer Jesse Washington used what Heath Shuler supposedly heard to promote the idea of a Tea Party chock full of racists: A fourth Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, who is white, backed up his colleagues, telling the Henderson (N.C.) Times-News that he heard the slurs.

It may be the most celebrated missing recording since Watergate: the nonexistent or unaccounted-for video of the tea-party protesters at the Capitol who three black congressmen claim yelled racial slurs at them on March 20, the eve of ObamaCare's enactment.... First, there turns out to have been at least one report of a corroborating witness to the alleged slurs. Washington notes that in its March 23 edition, the Hendersonville (N.C.) Times-News published this interview with Heath Shuler, the local congressman, a Democrat who voted against ObamaCare: Shuler was walking with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, an African-American, toward the Capitol building when...

Has Israel spoiled the prospects for peace by building homes in the Holy Land? To get the facts, and the whole story, listen to David Brog, Executive Director of Christians United For Israel. As is often the case, things are not as they seem.

Reconsiders bid for GOP nomination at family's urging Jeff Miller is back in the race for Congress. Although he said in October that he would not seek the Republican nomination, the Honor Air founder and Hendersonville businessman confirmed Thursday that he plans to run, but said it was too early in the process to make a bigger announcement. Republicans are looking for viable candidates to run against Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, and Miller was heavily recruited last fall. He met with local political officials and representatives from the National Republican Congressional Committee. In the end, he declined to run, citing...

House Republicans are focusing more attention on North Carolina Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler’s district in the wake of scrutiny over a hometown real estate deal. In 2005, Shuler became a partner in a real estate development group that was hoping to develop a property with water rights. When it turned out the Tennessee Valley Authority controlled the water rights, Shuler’s partnership looked to strike a deal with the government. The only problem? Shuler sits on a congressional committee that oversees the TVA, raising a conflict of interest. Shuler has said he had no contact with the TVA until after a...

In Asheville, Matt Mittan hosted a radio town hall meeting on healthcare reform with Congressman Heath Shuler. It was broadcast on three local Clear Channel Communications stations and podcast elsewhere. Following are short summaries of questions asked, Shuler’s answers, and an occasional Wild West assessment. Everything is paraphrased. Shuler: (Opening remarks) The country needs a program like the Asheville Project. Insurance needs to be made available to those who can’t afford it, like those with preexisting diagnoses. 50% of bankruptcies are attributable in part to medical expenses. Everybody needs healthcare. The US taxpayers are subsidizing healthcare in Iraq, thanks to...