RALEIGH, N.C. – Former Republican Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina says he will not try to regain his seat in Congress. Hayes said Wednesday he has decided to stay out of the 2010 campaign. He says there are a number of other prospective candidates for the suburban Charlotte seat, though he declined to name them.

Hayes endured two grueling campaigns against now-Rep. Larry Kissell, a Democrat who defeated Hayes last year in his second attempt.

Hayes says he plans to play a behind-the-scenes role in the coming campaign. He recently tried to recruit former Carolina Panthers star Mike Minter into the race, but Minter declined.

By SEAN MUSSENDEN
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON-It’s pretty rare for a freshman lawmaker to help shape an important bill like the economic recovery package that passed the House Wednesday.

But Rep. Larry Kissell, D-Biscoe, was given a prime slot on CSPAN to talk up his amendment that would require the Homeland Security Department to buy uniforms made by American textile and apparel companies. It was one of only a dozen or so changes Democratic leaders allowed to come to the floor for a vote and it passed easily.

That gave Kissell, a former textile worker, something to brag about in his textile-heavy district that has been hit hard by plant closings.

“I was asked by someone in the press once, ‘Do you feel as a freshman that you don’t have a voice?’ I responded by saying that if you run fast enough and shout fast enough, people will listen,” he said in an interview.

Perhaps, but a lot of freshmen are ambitious. The fact that Kissell is at the top of the Republicans’ target list in 2010 made it a no-brainer for Democratic leaders to hand him an early victory.

COPYCAT
Two North Carolina Republicans gave Kissell negative marks for originality on his amendment. They noted that the man he defeated, Republican Robin Hayes, pushed similar legislation for years. It didn’t pass in the last Congress, which Democrats controlled, or the previous one, which Republicans controlled.

“If it was his idea, he got it from Robin Hayes,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Banner Elk.

“He took that out of Robin’s playbook,” added Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Cherryville.

BANKING BLANK
Because North Carolina is a major banking hub, one would expect the state to have representation on the Senate banking committee. And it did, until Republican Elizabeth Dole lost her bid for reelection to Sen. Kay Hagan last year.

Hagan, a Democrat, wanted the slot. And her experience as a former banking executive suggested she would have a strong shot at joining the committee, which is playing a big role in shaping the government’s response to the ongoing economic crisis. But she got beat out by three other freshman senators from Virginia, Oregon and Colorado. Because of turbulence in the banking industry, competition for the high profile post was tough, Hagan said in an interview earlier this month.

She landed slots on the Armed Services Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Her North Carolina colleague in the Senate, Republican Richard Burr also serves on those two committees.

PUTTING OUT FEELERS
Richard Burr is up for re-election in 2010 and the field of potential challengers is starting to emerge – very slowly.

One name at the top of the speculation list: Rep. Heath Shuler, whose district encompasses the state’s western tip. The buzz got louder after the Democrat held a $100,000-plus fundraiser last week with former President Bill Clinton in Raleigh – far from his mountainous district.

His spokesman, Andrew Whalen, said the fundraiser was held there because Clinton was giving a speech at North Carolina State University that day.

So is he thinking about running?

Whalen’s careful response: “Today, Congressman Shuler is running for re-election to the House.” Note the key first word of that quote.

The election might be almost two years away, but pollsters are already testing out a Burr-Shuler matchup.

A survey conducted in mid-January by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm in Raleigh, found voters favored Burr over Shuler 39-28 percent, with an extremely high number undecided. Polls are pretty meaningless at this point, since voters aren’t really paying attention. But they’re helping feed the Shuler speculation.

Democrats hope that Hagan’s and Barack Obama’s wins in the state portend a tough contest for Burr. But respected Washington political forecaster Charlie Cook currently ranks the contest as “Solid R,” suggesting a very difficult race for Burr’s challenger.

CONCORD, N.C. – Former North Carolina Republican Rep. Robin Hayes says he’s not ruling out another run for Congress.

Democrat Larry Kissell ousted Hayes in November, just two years after falling 329 votes short of winning the 8th District seat.

As Kissell officially took the oath of office in the U.S. House on Tuesday, Hayes said in an interview with The Associated Press he hasn’t ruled out another rematch.

Hayes said there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll run in 2010. He wants to make the decision soon, so the GOP can begin recruiting another candidate if he bows out.

But Hayes also said he has focused on other matters since losing in November, catching up on some of his philanthropic and business work while also hunting, fishing and spending time with his grandchildren.

WASHINGTON—The pictures are down and the awards packed away in Rep. Robin Hayes’ Capitol Hill office.

His desk flanked by cardboard moving boxes, Hayes, R-N.C., said goodbye to old friends this week and considered his options after losing a bid for a sixth two-year term in Congress.

“The memories I have of 10 years, it just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long,” Hayes said in an interview.

As Hayes’ congressional career was drawing to a close, Democrat Larry Kissell, a schoolteacher who soundly defeated Hayes in a district that stretches from Concord to Ft. Bragg, was just beginning his tenure in Washington at an orientation for freshman lawmakers this week.

“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind of getting to know people and procedures, and getting a good start towards coming up here in January,” Kissell said in an interview. 

This week, he joined other freshman in classes on ethics and operating a congressional office.  He attended dinners with House leaders and met with other North Carolina Democrats. 

He hired a chief of staff, his campaign manger, Leanne Powell.  He requested slots on the same three committees on which Hayes served – agriculture, transportation and armed services. 

He will discover the location of his office after a lottery drawing Friday, but he already has a place to live next year when Congress is in session – a small studio apartment within walking distance of the Capitol.   

“It’s a little bit bigger than a dorm room, but it will be fine for me,” Kissell said.

As a social studies teacher with a passion for history, Kissell said his first trip to Washington after the election had left him somewhat awestruck.     

“When I came in Sunday night and saw the Capitol dome glowing, it stirs you, it gives you a sense of that humbleness, of what you’ve been trusted to do by so many people,” he said.

Hayes said he has not yet determined what to do when his term ends in January. 

This week, he spent what is likely to be the 110th Congress’ last days in Washington wrapping up loose ends.  He helped his staff find new jobs, and closed out requests for help from constituents or prepared to pass their cases on to the new guy.         

He said he hasn’t spent much time thinking about the future.

“Even though I won’t be an active member of Congress, there are a lot of things I can and will do to continue to help the district,” he said.

He said he had not ruled out running against Kissell in two years.

“I’m not thinking about that today. Some people have done that. It’s certainly a possibility, but again that’s on down the road,” he said.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – Democratic high school teacher Larry Kissell has defeated 10-year Republican incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes in North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Kissell based on an analysis of voter interviews, conducted for the AP by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

Two years ago, Kissell came within 329 votes of taking the seat despite a long-shot, low-budget campaign. National Democrats took notice after that election and backed Kissell this year, providing support and funding for television advertising.

Kissell capitalized on a struggling economy by knocking Hayes for backing trade legislation that he said has hurt the area’s once-booming textile industry.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Democrat Larry Kissell was considered a longshot two years ago before his low-budget campaign nearly unseated a North Carolina congressman.

This year the high school teacher has the backing of the national party – and its money – in his rematch with Republican Rep. Robin Hayes for the state’s 8th Congressional District. The race is expected to be the closest of the 13 U.S. House races Tuesday in North Carolina.
 
A tight race also is possible in the 10th District, where Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry faces former prosecutor and decorated Navy veteran Daniel Johnson.

Should Kissell and Johnson win, it could mark a further shift toward Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation. Democrats are entering Election Day with a 7-6 edge.

CONCORD, N.C. – Democratic congresional candidate Larry Kissell has one last day to find the 329 votes that made the difference in his election bid two years ago.

Kissell visited Monday with phone-bank volunteers, encouraging his supporters to continue their work for one more day, and he campaigned around the 8th District. He said the feedback he’s getting sounds good but that things will take care of themselves on Election Day.
 
Kissell was largely ignored in 2006, when Democrats gained control of the House, but he narrowly missed defeating GOP Rep. Robin Hayes. This year, outside groups looking to buoy his candidacy have spent some $2.5 million in the race.
 
Kissell is a high school civics teacher.

Larry Kissell has taken the lead for the first time in a PPP poll of North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District during this cycle.

WASHINGTON-Democrats on Thursday lashed out at Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., for suggesting that the Democratic Party supports “anti-American” policies.

“My colleagues on the other side don’t seem to be in favor of more American energy. They seem to be anti-American energy, just as many other things that they support seem to be anti-American power and anti-American control,” Foxx said of Democrats during a speech on the House floor last month.

The campaign of Foxx’s Democratic challenger, Roy Carter, criticized Foxx’s “anti-American” remark, which was reported by CQ Politics on Thursday.

“Her partisanship is a big deal. It will hurt her ability to get things done for this district,” said Ben Salt, a spokesman for Carter.

Aaron Groen, a spokesman for Foxx, said Carter’s campaign misinterpreted the comment Foxx made on September 17, during a debate on energy policy.

“She’s not calling anyone anti-American. She’s talking about energy policies, about American sources of energy versus foreign sources,” Groen said. “She was talking about the fact that she favors policies that give Americans power over where we get our energy, control over where we get our energy.”

Like many Republicans in Congress, Foxx has been an outspoken advocate for drilling for oil and natural gas off the North Carolina coast.

Two other House Republicans – Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota – have come under fire in recent days for suggesting that liberals and Democrats hold anti-American views.

Appearing on the MSNBC show “Hardball” last week, Bachmann asked the news media to investigate which members of Congress were “pro-America” and which were “anti-America.”

Warming up the crowd at a campaign rally for John McCain in Concord, N.C., last week, Hayes said “liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.”

Hayes’ campaign initially denied that he made the remark. After news organizations produced taped evidence of the comment, Hayes said it “came out completely the wrong way.”