Carl Mumpower is running for Congress.

The Asheville City Council member announced today that he will run for the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from Waynesville.

In his announcement, Mumpower called himself an"independent conservative voice on the Asheville's liberal City Council."

He said some of the issues for his campaign would be security the borders, reducing the national debt, and cutting "bureaucratic strangulation" of business, education and health care.

He also said he would redirect the War on Drugs away from creating new laws and towards enforcing existing laws, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

In recent weeks, Western Carolina Republicans had been searching for a challenger to Shuler. State Sen. Tom Apodaca and Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt have ruled out runs, but former Rep. Charles Taylor, who lost to Shuler in 2006, has not yet announced his plans.

Under the Dome is feeling verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.

I'll give you a topic: U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is to the Republican Party what U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is to the Democrats.

Both are first-term incumbents who opponents say are easy targets. Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, is in a Republican-leaning district. Dole, a Salisbury Republican, has close ties to President Bush in a year that could be rough for the GOP.

And yet no one has stepped forward to challenge either.

In recent weeks, state sen. Tom Apodaca and Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt have bailed on challenging Shuler, leaving an Asheville columnist to jokingly throw his own hat in the ring.

At the same time, state Democrats like Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Brad Miller and Attorney General Roy Cooper have also passed on challenging Dole.

Both candidates may be beatable, but their would-be opponents sure don't seem to think so.

Hat Tip: Raleigh Soup 

State Sen. Tom Apodaca will not run for Congress.

The Hendersonville Republican said that he will not run against U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat considered vulnerable by some in the GOP, The Charlotte Observer reports.

"My family, friends and supporters have been wonderful in pressing me to run," Apodaca said in a prepared statement. "As of now, I'm in a position to do more for western North Carolina in Raleigh than I would be as part of Congress."

Apodaca also ruled out running for lieutenant governor, saying he would rather stay in the Senate.

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower is also a possible candidate, as is former Rep. Charles Taylor, whom Shuler defeated in 2006.

Taylor has not announced whether he will run again, to the dismay of some Republican groups.

Update: Brevard District Attorney Jeff Hunt has also ruled out a run.

Some Republicans want former Rep. Charles Taylor to decide.

The Henderson County Republican Men's Club recently passed a resolution calling on Taylor to make a decision by Aug. 22 whether he will challenge Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler to a rematch, The Asheville-Citizen Times reports.

"Given the importance of this particular race, a lot of people in the party think that whoever wants to run has to organize now," the group's president told the paper.

After serving seven terms, Taylor lost to Shuler in 2006.

Two Republicans are waiting on the sidelines: state Sen. Tom Apodaca and Henderson County District Attorney Jeff Hunt. Both said they will wait for Taylor's decision.

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower has not ruled out a run either.

Will U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler face a rematch?

Word on the street in Washington, D.C., is that Republicans are trying to get former Rep. Charles Taylor to decide soon whether he wants to face off against the Waynesville Democrat for the 11th District Congressional seat.

Shuler trounced the powerful GOP stalwart Taylor in November. But Roll Call ($), a Capitol Hill newspaper, reports today that local Republicans want Taylor to make a decision soon so others can jump into the game if he doesn’t.

Republicans told Roll Call that Taylor’s experience, wealth and name recognition could bode well.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican who holds the seat adjacent to Shuler’s, told Roll Call that local Republicans should wait a few months before pushing Taylor. "Having a full year to campaign is plenty," he said.

Others considering a challenge to Shuler, according to Roll Call: state Sen. Tom Apodaca, state Rep. Charles Thomas, Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower and Henderson County District Attorney Jeff Hunt.