Jake Browning
reporter@thefranklinpress.com
It turns out that state Sen. Jim Davis isn’t done with politics just yet after he filed Dec. 20 to run for the 11th congressional district in 2020.
U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, who currently holds the District 11 seat, announced on Dec. 19 that he would not seek a fifth term. His announcement came within a day of the filing deadline, leaving Davis and other Republicans with a quick decision to make.
Davis said that many individuals who would have considered a run for the seat sooner have already missed deadlines to withdraw from other races and can’t be on the ballot twice. But because of his impending retirement, he was still eligible.
“The timing left a lot of talented people off of the ballot,” Davis said. “It left the rest of us who weren’t running for anything yet vulnerable [to be asked to run], if you will.”
Davis said that voters, donors and fellow legislators contacted him shortly after Meadows announced his retirement and implored him to run.
After talking it over with his wife and getting her blessing to postpone their official retirement, he made a quick trip to register and became a candidate for district 11. He said that, if elected, he’ll focus his legislative efforts on reducing the national debt.
“I’d like to take aim at concepts like fiscal solvency,” Davis said. “I know it’s an uphill battle, especially since partisanship is at an all-time high, but so is the national debt. I feel strongly that that we’re selling out or children and our grandchildren’s future.”
Despite the narrow window of time, 12 republicans filed to fill Meadows’ seat. Aside from Davis, Republicans running for their party’s nomination are Linda Bennett of Haywood County, Chuck Archerd of Asheville, Dan Driscoll of Lenoir, Joey Osborne of Hickory, Steven Fekete Jr. of Lenoir, Dillon S. Gentry of Banner Elk, Wayne King of King’s Mountain, Madison Cawthorn of Hendersonville, Matthew Burril of Asheville, Vance Patterson of Morganton and Albert Wiley Jr. of Salter Path.
Five democrats – Moe Davis of Asheville, Michael O’Shea of Henderson County, Steve Woodsmall of Transylvania County, Gina Collias of Rutherford and Phillip Price of McDowell County – filed for their 2020 primary scheduled for March 3, 2020. Tamara Zwinak of Macon County is running for the seat as a Green Party candidate. Tracey DeBruhl of Asheville is running as a Libertarian Party candidate.
The primary election is set for Tuesday, March 3.