Norman also ran against Spratt in 2006 and held him to his third-lowest percentage. Might have had a shot if 2006 wasn’t such a stinky year for the GOP.
I went back to revisit the 2008 Almanac of American Politics which covered the 2006 elections. One somewhat unsettling thing I learned about Norman was that he was recruited by Karl Rove to run against Spratt (and we know Rove’s fondness for recruiting bum RINO leftists, and old ones at that). He was actually well-funded (about a million and a half $$), although still well outspent. He did seem a bit naïve, however, in reading the description of the race. Hopefully the 11 years since have seasoned him a bit. The national GOP had to cut him loose when they discovered scores of incumbents in trouble and needed $$, and of course, they lost the majority that year.