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WNC�s 11th Congressional District race is beginning to take shape with the recent announcement by thirteen-year incumbent Charles Taylor that he will seek re-election, and with the challenge being presented by twelve-year Buncombe County Commissioner, Patsy Keever. Congressman Taylor won the Congressional seat in 1990, and has successfully fought off all challengers over the past seven elections.
Commissioner Keever is a native of Western North Carolina, and was a Buncombe County schoolteacher for 25 years. A mother of two and a recent widow after 34 years of marriage, Keever has served as a Buncombe Country Commissioner for the past twelve years. Keever�s recent announcement of her first quarter campaign fundraising success, during which she raised over $137,237 from over 1,000 individual supporters, caught the attention of many of the area�s seasoned politicos. Keever has received endorsements from top WNC Democratic elected officials, including Asheville Mayor Charles Worley, Buncombe County commissioners Bill Stanley, David Young, and David Gantt, and NC State Senator Martin Nesbitt. Congressman Taylor currently serves as the chairman of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee that exercises control over budgets for the National Park Service and the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the past, Taylor has been successful in obtaining funding for rebuilding the regional VA hospital and for the installation of Internet infrastructure in rural WNC counties.
The 11th Congressional District seat has a history of being a hotly contested race, with the past two elections having been particularly bitter, filled with acrimony and mudslinging. Sam Neil, a Hendersonville, North Carolina, attorney, challenged Taylor in the past two congressional races. Neil�s past campaigns were, for the most part, self-financed, with Neil currently showing a $750,000 campaign debt, most of which is owed to himself from loans that he made to his campaign races. Reaping the benefit of a solid grass roots political base, Keever�s fund raising success to date, totaling over $255,000 from over 1,225 contributors, suggests that this year�s 11th Congressional District election may be a more competitive race than the previous two elections. During the past two 11th District Congressional races, Neil lost both elections by garnering less than 44 percent of the vote to the incumbent Taylor. Taylor�s re-election campaign is not facing a challenger in the July 23 Republican primary, and reported raising $120,618 in the fourth quarter of 2003, and $86,710 in the first quarter of 2004. For the election cycle period, Taylor has raised a total of $546,667 with a balance on hand of $63, 210 effective March 31, 2004. However, for the incumbent Taylor, the campaign season is only in its early stages, and Taylor�s campaign hopes to raise nearly $750,000 before the fall congressional race hits full stride. In the past two congressional races, Taylor raised over $675,000.
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The 11th Congressional District Democratic primary is set for July 20th, but no serious contenders to Keever�s candidacy have emerged during the filing process. Keever�s only primary opposition is Clyde Michael Morgan from Swannanoa, N. C. Morgan is not considered a serious contender in the primary because he has not been successful in developing a campaign organization that is showing any measurable success in fundraising, and also due to the fact that Morgan has never held an elected office. Taylor is unopposed in the 11th Congressional District Republican primary. 