Armor announces for Congress

Highlands lawyer John Armor, who waged a failed bid in 2006 to wrest the GOP nomination for the 11th Congressional District seat from then-incumbent Charles Taylor, has announced he will try again.

Armor may have an easier time of it than in 2006, when he lost to Taylor in the GOP primary, garnering nearly 20 percent of the vote. So far Taylor has not announced whether he will seek to regain his seat from Democrat Heath Shuler. Armor’s competition at the moment remains Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower and Henderson County GOP chairman Spence Campbell.

Armor has not yet responded to an interview request from Xpress, but his campaign Web site outlines his extensive experience as a lawyer who often argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as his work with the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization of some 2,500 conservative state legislators. That experience, he says, makes him better qualified than Shuler, whom he still refers to as too inexperienced for the job. “I had my first case in the U.S. Supreme Court before Heath Shuler was born,” he writes.

“I have experience at every level of government in the United States – local, state and federal. I also have experience in all three branches of the federal government – Executive, Judicial and Legislative. My primary areas of experience are 33 years practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, and 35 years experience working with and for thousands of state legislators from across the county.”

If elected, Armor says his priorities can be boiled down to their essence: education and protection of the Constitution.

“Our federal government is on its way to failure, to the extent that judges continue to decide cases contrary to the Constitution, and contrary to the will of the people as expressed by their elected representatives,” he writes. “Concerning education, many philosophers have noted that every civilization is exactly one generation away from barbarity. To the extent that we do not educate our children and then our grandchildren in what it means to be an American, the core of this nation will be lost by degrees, and by generations, until there is nothing worth saving.” 

— Hal L. Millard, staff writer

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

10 thoughts on “Armor announces for Congress

  1. Nam Vet

    I respect John Armor, but I would voteforMumpower if I was a registered republican.

  2. You don’t have to be a Republican to vote for Mumpower, Nam Vet, just sensible. ;-)

    By the way, I’m also a Nam Vet — 1st Cav, 1968-70.

  3. Nam Vet

    Hey Ralph thanks for serving. 1/5 Inf Mech I Corps 1969. Well in that case I’ll be voting for Carl!

  4. Gordon, I like Campbell, I’m ex-military intelligence also. Armor’s run before I believe and I don’t think he has much chance this time.

    Mumpower’s still my candidate, but we’ll see how the primary develops. I am and have always been a staunch unaffiliated but, as state law allows, I will vote in the Republican primary for Carl.

  5. Nam Vet, all right on 1st of the 5th! We were there at the same time. I came in county in ’68, left in ’70. Carl, of course, is also a Vietnam veteran, Air Force. In fact, I published his book some years back, VIETNAM: COMING ALL THE WAY HOME — it deals in Carl’s typical compassionate and caring manner with problems some vets had in readjusting to, as we called it, “the world.”

  6. travelah

    Mumpower still has my support. I am guessing the Fauxprogs are not supporting either of the three, ya think?

Leave a Reply to Ralph Roberts ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.