Jeff Miller apparent GOP winner

A well-known businessman from a Republican
stronghold appears to have edged a Tea Party
activist from a distant mountain county Tuesday in
the race to pick a challenger to U.S. Rep. Heath
Shuler.

Henderson County businessman and veteran
supporter Jeff Miller slipped by Cherokee
ophthalmologist Dr. Dan Eichenbaum in their party’s
11th District congressional primary.

With all but provision ballots in, Miller had a little
more than 40 percent of the vote, just enough to
avoid a runoff.

The primary and other election results remain
unofficial until they are verified at a May 11 canvass
by election officials.

In his party’s primary, Shuler, a two-term
conservative Democrat from Waynesville, beat with
little effort the more liberal Aixa Wilson, an Asheville
archeologist in his first election contest.

Miller, a Hendersonville dry cleaning business
owner, watched election returns at the Flat Rock
Cinema, and called the results humbling.

“I am just so appreciative of the Republican and the
unaffiliated voters because I firmly believe it was
both groups that came out,” he said. “It makes you
never want to do anything to disappoint them.”

Tuesday’s results showed Miller outpacing
Eichenbaum, of Murphy, 40.2 percent to 34 percent.
A total of 35,833 voted in the primary. State law
would have allowed Eichenbaum, the second-place
finisher, to request a runoff if Miller had not
exceeded 40 percent.

Eichenbaum was at the Biltmore Doubletree Hotel in
Asheville. He said the close results showed his
limited government platform struck a chord with

voters.

“They wanted to get on board with an effort to
change direction back toward a more constitutional
form of government,” he said.

Third-place finisher, former Hendersonville mayor
Greg Newman, got 11.7 percent, followed by
Hayesville insurance salesman Kenny West with 7.8
percent, Marion attorney Ed Krause with 4.1 percent
and retired Franklin helicopter pilot Jake Howard
with 2.3 percent.

Lisa Sargent, chief judge for the Fletcher precinct,
said voting was unusually light, partly because of
two weeks of early voting, partly because of voter
apathy. At 2:45 p.m., just 123 people had voted.

“Usually, at least 400 have voted by the end of the
day, but I’ll be surprised if we make it to that,” she
said. “It’s very light.”

Fletcher resident Ronnie Lesher said even though
turnout is typically low in primaries, he thinks it’s
important to vote in them because “it gives you an
opportunity to have more of a decision in the
electoral process and the decision process.”

He expects interest to pick up considerably over the
summer and into fall.

“There’s a lot of frustration in the electorate over
what has transpired- the financial bailout, the health

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