jeff hunt

"District Attorney Jeff Hunt said today he will not seek the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler in the 11th congressional district." - BlueRidgeNow.com

Jeff Hunt was gung ho to run when we met him in the spring though he was waiting on disgraced former Congressman Charles Taylor to bow out first. Hunt's announcement yesterday coupled with Taylor's coy non-answers to the Henderson County Republican Men's Club make it look like we're going to have to endure another season of Taylor's poorly produced smear ads and outright lies.

The rumor mill says that Tom Apodaca won't run because his wife is reluctant. Carl Mumpower could give it a shot, but you've seen how well Asheville candidates do out in the hinterlands.

Hunt really wanted to run.

Charles Taylor... Are ya sure, Charles? Are you sure? Because you're looking at a 61-39 loss this time unless you have photographs of Heath having group sex with Cindy Sheehan, Al Sharpton, and Larry Craig. You're going to put yourself through the wringer, further blackening your karma, having to deal with agitators - For what?

No matter your feelings about Heath Shuler (Mixed Bag D - NC), no one misses The Lump. Disgraced former Congressman Charles Taylor ran the dirtiest campaign in memory, throwing nearly $4 million at those amateur television spots and mailers in an effort to make people forget just how much they loathed him. Almost $3 million of that came out of Taylor's own deep pockets, and Charles Taylor does not like spending his own money.

In this post-election year, using every other off-year as a basis, we can safely assume that Taylor is busy raising money to pay himself back for all those rubles he spent. Meanwhile, a squadron of Republican candidates wait in the wings, knowing that every day Charles Taylor doesn't withdraw his name from the race is a day lost.