Rep. Patrick McHenry will play a major role in national Republican efforts to build and maintain the party’s majority in the U.S. House. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden announced Jan. 18 that he chose McHenry to lead the organization’s recruitment and outreach efforts for the 2014 campaign cycle.
The GOP congressman is based in Denver, N.C. and represents the 10th District, which was recently redrawn to include most of Asheville.
“To get our country back on track, we need thoughtful leaders who are willing to make difficult decisions,” said McHenry in a message announcing the position via his email newsletter. “We need individuals who will take a stand against Washington’s runaway tax and spend policies. I’m honored to be selected for this position and excited to recruit candidates that will serve as a firewall against the failed policies of President Obama.”
In November, his first reelection campaign in the redrawn district, McHenry soundly defeated Democratic Buncombe County Statehouse Rep. Patsy Keever, although she beat him by a wide margin in her home county. First elected in 2004 at the age of 29, it was McHenry’s fifth successful run for congress. In that time he’s proven himself to be a prodigious fundraiser. His political experience also includes serving as the Honorary Chair of the House Conservatives Fund, the only leadership PAC dedicated solely to the election of conservative candidates to congress.
In that role in 2010, McHenry lent his support to thirty-seven successful congressional candidates across the country. Last year, he backed each of the four new Republican members elected in North Carolina, including Rep. Mark Meadows, who ran in the 11th District, which includes parts of Buncombe County.
It’s pretty depressing to feel that I am completely unrepresented by my new congressman McHenry and Senator Burr. My sense is this is just a lucrative career path for these folks…going where the money is, self serving and certainly not ‘statesmen’ in the classical sense of the word. I certainly hope the redistricting will meet some kind of challenge. But I’ve stopped holding my breath for progressive and sustainable leadership from our WNC ‘delegation for a long time to come.