Democrats debate who can defeat Mark Meadows in 11th Congressional District

ASHEVILLE – The three Democrats vying to oppose 11th District U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Transylvania, in November agreed on plenty of issues during a debate Monday.

But they differed over one of the biggest ones on the minds of the roughly 100 people who attended a meeting of the Buncombe County chapter of the state Democratic Party's Progressive Caucus: Who is the candidate with the best chance of defeating Meadows?

Phillip Price, a small business owner from Dysartsville in McDowell County, said his "roots that spread all the way across the 6,000 square miles" of the 11th District give him a leg up on the other candidates

Dr. Scott Donaldson, a urologist from Hendersonville, said he is best positioned to win over the usually Republican voters of Henderson County and to address what he said will be one of the key issues in the general election: Health care.

Steve Woodsmall, a management professor at Brevard College, lightheartedly said he is the one to beat Meadows "because I really want to." He then said his education, work teaching leadership and military experience in the Air Force give him the edge.

Democrats in the 11th decide May 8 who they will nominate to run against Meadows.

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Meadows is in a contested Republican Party primary as well, but only in the technical sense. Buncombe County Republican Chuck Archerd filed on the last day of the filing period but said he did so only as a backup in case Meadows is picked for a job in the administration of President Donald Trump. Archerd said he will ask voters to cast their ballots for Meadows unless Meadows leaves the House.

At Monday's event, the Democratic candidates sometimes began their remarks on a particular issue by saying they agreed with those their competitors made but wanted to add something else.

The three generally endorsed a single-payer system for health insurance similar to Medicare, said the United States must act to curb global warming and called for action to give those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program, or DACA, the ability to stay in the U.S. permanently.

"We have the same platform, basically," Price said.

He said he has lived in six Western North Carolina counties and met many residents of the region via his business, which recycles lumber.

"I'm the candidate who can relate with moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats and the progressive Democrats," he said.

"People want to know that the person that's standing on the floor of the House of Representatives is one of them, ... is connected to that district," Price said.

Donaldson's home county of Henderson is the most populous in the 11th and he said that if he is the nominee, Republicans there "are going to vote for me. They've already told me that."

The "central focus" of the election will be health care and the Affordable Care Act, he said.

When a grandchild is born or someone is about to die, people shouldn't have to ask themselves, "How am I going to pay for this?" Donaldson said. "I believe I can communicate that."

Woodsmall cautioned against making too much of the number of years someone has lived in the district: "This is not about who's lived here the longest." He said he had no control over where he was born or, during his career in the Air Force, where he lived but picked Brevard for his home when he did have a choice.

Woodsmall has a masters of business administration and a doctorate in management. He said his military background "carries a lot of weight" with unaffiliated voters in the district and he has no fear of Meadows.

He said he dealt with "bigger fish" than the incumbent when in the military and said Meadows "is wrong on every single thing."

Also speaking at the event Monday was David Wilson Brown of Gaston County. He is the only Democrat seeking his party's nomination in the 10th Congressional District. It is currently represented by Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Lincoln County resident who is one of five Republicans seeking their party's nomination.