North Carolina: HonorAir Founder Mulls Shuler Challenge

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HonorAir founder Jeff Miller said this week that he’s contemplating challenging Rep. Heath Shuler (D) in the Tar Heel State’s western 11th district, according to the Times-News of Hendersonville.

Miller, who also owns a dry-cleaning business in Hendersonville, founded HonorAir in 2006 to fly World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to tour the World War II Memorial and other D.C. sites. The group is now closing in on its 100th flight. In 2008, Miller was recognized for his work by President George W. Bush with a Presidential Citizens Medal.

Miller told the Times-News that he won’t make a final decision for at least another month. Other Republicans who have been mentioned as possible Shuler challengers are Hendersonville Mayor Greg Newman and former state Rep. Charles Thomas.

While Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) carried the 11th district by 5 points in last year’s presidential race, Shuler won a second term by beating Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower (R) by 26 points in a race that national Republicans did not target.

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