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North Carolina State Sen. Chuck Edwards (R) unseated Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) in the state’s 11th congressional district primary. Dave Wasserman, the House editor of the Cook Political Report, reported that Cawthorn lost his renomination to state Sen. Edwards.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) was projected to lose his primary in North Carolina on Tuesday night, marking the end of a brief yet controversial tenure in the House that earned him critics on both sides of the aisle. The Associated Press called the race for Cawthorn’s rival, state Sen. Chuck Edwards, at 11:09 p.m. ET. Cawthorn’s campaign confirmed earlier Tuesday that the lawmaker had already conceded to Edwards. Heading into the Tuesday primary, Cawthorn faced a crowded field of Republican rivals, though he remained the favorite to clinch the nomination in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

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...

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler will not run for Senate. In a brief statement issued tonight, the Waynesville Democrat said that he has decided he will not run against Republican Sen. Richard Burr in 2010. "I was flattered to have been asked by so many people across North Carolina to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010," he said. "However with our nation facing the most difficult economic times in generations, I feel my efforts are better utilized focusing on solutions to these challenges rather than campaigning across the state." Shuler, a conservative Democrat from the mountains, had been increasingly mentioned...

John Armor is a student of history. He knows where the country has been and where he would like to take it in the future. As a Republican candidate for the 11th Congressional District, Armor has the chance to make an impact. Armor is running against Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower and former Henderson County Republican Party Chairman Spence Campbell in the Republican primary. Raised in the Baltimore area, Armor attended Yale University, where he earned degrees in political science and English. He took a job at an advertising agency shortly after graduation but wanted a new challenge. He enrolled...

Change is a common word in politics today. Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, a Republican candidate for Congress in the 11th District, said he would stand firm behind his principles and not compromise for the sake of change. "Our founding fathers were not go along, get along type of guys," Mumpower said at the Henderson County Republican Men's Club on Wednesday. "They effected change. How did they do it? They challenged wrongs. They refused to participate in the system. That is a bunch of nonsense that you have to go up there or go to Asheville City Council and jump...

The three Republican candidates for the 11th Congressional District agreed on the need for tax reform, the need for broad change in Congress and their own conservative credentials during a debate at the Opportunity House today. In a straw poll taken at the forum, Campbell narrowly edged Mumpower, 24 votes to 23 while John Armor had 20. In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Republican Men’s Club members Fred Smith won with 37 followed by Pat McCrory with 17. Bob Orr had 7 and Bill Graham had 2. Highlands attorney John Armor, retired Army Col. Spence Campbell of Hendersonville and Asheville City...

"Armor wants to reform Medicare and Medicaid, and he opposes universal health care and congressional earmarks. In Iraq, he favors a continued presence in the country but not “actively fighting for a long period of time.” On the infamous “Road to Nowhere” in Swain County, he favors following the lead of county officials, who’ve opted for a cash settlement from the federal government rather than having the road built. He said he believes the major issues facing Western North Carolina come down to four words: “That’s jobs, jobs, jobs and education.” Tourism is relatively healthy, he said, but agriculture and...

First up, yesterday's radio debate on WWNC 570 AM in Asheville has been turned into video by FR's own Thunder Pig. The video playlist is here. Thank you Thunder Pig! Next up is the response of John's campaign to the incredibly slanderous news releases that have been put out by Carl Mumpower's campaign. Desperate Psychologist Explodes in 11th District Congressional Race It is not very often that any candidate for office puts out a news release which quotes at great length from a release by an opposing candidate. There are exceptions to every rule, and this one has to do...

John Armor, Spence Campbell and Carl Mumpower will debate live on-air on WWNC 570-AM Asheville. Calls will be taken! WHEN: Tuesday, April 15, from 3PM to 5PM. WHERE: WWNC 570-AM in Asheville, 'Take A Stand' hosted by Matt Mittan - Listen via live streaming audio here

FLAT ROCK -- Signs reading "Mumpower for Congress" lined the entrance to the St. John in the Wilderness Parish Hall. They were a major point of contention prior to a debate Thursday. Carl Mumpower, who is a Republican candidate for Congress, and Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton got into a war of words over the use of campaign signs at the debate. Organizers wanted to limit the size of political material on church grounds. Mumpower objected, saying the request amounted to a change in the rules and created a "rigged game." Staton fired back and called Mumpower an "arrogant a**."...

Both the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Hendersonville Times-News have articles, today (11 April), about the congressional candidates debate yesterday in the town of Flat Rock. Both articles have their facts wrong about the Carl Mumpower flap concerning signage at the debate. The candidates present for that debate of Republican candidates for Congress were Carl Mumpower from Asheville, Spence Campbell from Henderson County, and John Armor from Macon County. Mumpower had first withdrawn from the debate in a huff, and made various accusations against the debate organizers and other candidates. Then, he apparently realized that his behavior was not "winning friends...

FLAT ROCK -- Hours after Flat Rock's mayor called him an "arrogant a--" who didn't deserve his vote, congressional candidate Carl Mumpower on Tuesday afternoon reversed himself and agreed to participate in a candidate forum sponsored by the Village Council. Mumpower and organizers of the debate had engaged in a low-volume war of words since last week when Mumpower objected to restrictions on electioneering by candidates. By Tuesday afternoon Flat Rock mayor Bob Staton was fed up. "In my three decades of practicing law in our Nation's Capitol, I encountered my share of arrogant a--es, but none could hold a...

Carl Mumpower plans to stay home. The Republican 11th Congressional District candidate recently got into an argument about rules for a debate in Flat Rock, which is scheduled for April 10. Mumpower voiced concerns about rules that were established to limit the size of promotional material at the event. The Times-News was forwarded a chain of emails between Mumpower and the moderator of the debate. The Asheville City Council Member's email chains are notorious in Asheville. In the past, he has scolded the Asheville police chief for not enforcing drug laws and a local business leader for allegedly hiring illegal...

A few items today; one, a press release from April 1 (below) that I forgot to post because I have rocks in my head, and a pair of videos. The first link is to video of a URTV studio debate held last Thursday, March 27, in Asheville. Video requires flash and runs about 90 minutes. The second video is a YouTube clip of John on the 'To the Point' radio show from September 26, 2007, discussing the MoveOn "BetrayUs" ad and campaign finance.

A Republican candidate for Congress in the 11th district told the Times-News on Tuesday that he foresees the United States having a presence in Iraq for an indeterminate amount of time. Highlands attorney John Armor said the troop surge in Iraq is working. He believes the country can start to withdraw troops "in a few years" and only needs to maintain a "tripwire" level of troops in the country, similar to Germany during the Cold War. "You keep tripwire troops," Armor said. "It used to be until the Soviet Union fell that we kept troops in Europe not so much...

Here are the results of the Macon County GOP Straw Poll, taken after the spirited discussion forum: 1. 32 John Armor 2. 19 Carl Mumpower 3. 11 Spence Campbell In the NC Gubernatorial Straw Poll , the results were: 1. 34 Fred Smith 2. 5 Bob Orr 3. 3 Bill Graham 4. 1 Pat McCrory I will have video up later, so keep checking back. The Congressional Debate was the most spirited yet. John Armor Wins Macon Straw Poll

NEWS RELEASE Heath Shuler Shows Why He Doesn't Belong in Congress BlueRidgeNow, the website of the Hendersonville Times-News, reported on March 26 on an appearance by Rep. Heath Shuler at a Rotary Club meeting in that city, but missed the deeper story that was present. According to the story, Heath Shuler blamed Senator John McCain, a Republican who is not serving in the House, as "blocking" Shuler's SAVE Act which would impose tighter controls on illegal immigration from getting a vote in the House. The Times-News had noted in an editorial on 20 March that "48 Democrats had co-sponsored the...

WASHINGTON - New evidence is emerging that the top Democrat on the Senate committee currently investigating Jack Abramoff got political money arranged by the lobbyist back in 2002 shortly after the lawmaker took action favorable to Abramoff's tribal clients. A lawyer for the Louisiana Coushatta Indians told The Associated Press that Abramoff instructed the tribe to send $5,000 to Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record)'s political group just three weeks after the North Dakota Democrat urged fellow senators to fund a tribal school program Abramoff's clients wanted to use.The check was one of about five dozen the Coushattas listed...