State legislator decides to take on McHenry

Patsy Keever thinks Republicans overreached when they stretched the 10th Congressional District into Buncombe County.

The state representative was gerrymandered out of her House district when the Republican-dominated General Assembly redrew the lines. So, the Democrat decided to run for Congress against incumbent U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry.

“When the lines were redrawn, they put me across the street from my state House district,” Keever said during a campaign swing through Hickory. “Ninety percent of my state district is now in the 10th Congressional District.”

Keever said getting things done in the legislature has been difficult, but “I think the public is more in touch with what’s happening and how the Republicans have been maneuvering.”

She said Republican reticence to compromise in the General Assembly and in Congress is a major reason she wants to change public service jobs.

“We have to elect people who are willing to compromise. People wanted change in 2010 (when the GOP captured control of both legislative houses and the US House), but that’s not what they got. We can do better than the non-functioning gridlock in Congress.”

Keever was a Buncombe County commissioner for 12 years before her successful run for the state House. She’s also been through a “tough congressional campaign” when she was a commissioner against veteran US Rep. Charles Taylor, whose seat in the 11th Congressional District eventually was captured by Heath Shuler. Shuler decided to retire this year, but Keever – who actually lives just inside the 11th – opted to pursue McHenry’s seat, permissible for congressional candidates because of her ties to her former state House constituents.

She said although she’s not well-known in the Hickory area, McHenry has little name recognition in the Buncombe County section. Keever thinks Democrats are re-energized because of the public’s dissatisfaction with the Washington stalemate and politically unaffiliated voters are yet to decide which candidate they’ll support.

Keever has made campaign stops in Shelby and Gastonia – the heart of McHenry’s political base – Burke and Catawba counties. She was in Hickory to speak to Democrats last Monday night.

“You have to get out and know the people before and after the election,” she said. “You have to listen to what people have to say and work across the aisle for what’s best for the people. I want to be part of the healing process in Congress.”

Keever said the people come before the party, although she supports the Democratic platform. “I don’t agree with everything President Obama has done, but he has done some great things,” she said. She also contends that part of the problem between Congress and Obama is racial.

Some Republicans, she said, want him out of The White House because of race. Nonetheless, she said, “We have to get past political labels. We have to focus on the good for the people and the will of the people.

“This (her campaign and public service) is not about me as an individual, but about me as part of a team that is working for all constituents. We should always find our areas of agreement and work from there.”

A lack of action and compromise in Congress, she said, is why some eligible voters don’t care to register and participate in elections. “We must reach out to people who feel disaffected by the system.”

For more about Patsy Keever, go to www.keeverforcongress.com.