DYSARTSVILLE – A southern McDowell County resident who says the Affordable Care Act made health insurance affordable for him has announced his candidacy for the 11th Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, a leading opponent of the law in Congress.

Phillip Price, a 51-year-old small business owner, opposes Republican efforts to repeal the ACA, favors increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and says the federal government should invest in infrastructure, including bringing high-speed internet access to rural areas.

"I decided to run because I believe the people of North Carolina are not being represented by the current congressman," he said. "I feel I've been called by a higher power to take on this challenge."

For now, Price is the only Democrat seeking his party's nomination in the 11th, which encompasses most of Western North Carolina, including parts of Asheville. Democrat Matt Coffay pulled out of the 2018 race Tuesday because of an undisclosed personal issue.

Meadows, a Republican who lives in southern Buncombe County, is in his third term and has ascended to the influential chairmanship of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. He has had little trouble so far beating Democrats in the conservative district but has not yet announced plans for 2018.

On the ACA, Price said Meadows' goal "is to have no government involvement at all in (health care) and I just don't think that's right."

Price and his wife own Antique Reclaimed Lumber, which dismantles old buildings and prepares the wood for reuse. He said he went without health insurance for eight to 10 years before the ACA went into effect.

He points to Mason jars sometimes seen near the cash register in convenience stores seeking donations to help pay for a child's health care costs as evidence that government should help with health care needs. He favors a "single-payer Medicare-for-all system."

"In a wealthy industrialized nation such as ours, it should be a moral imperative to ensure that anyone who is sick can see a doctor ... without medical bills bankrupting them," his website says.

Price said gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would "build our economy" and keep people who work 40 hours a week from needing food stamps and other government assistance as they do now.

A native of Atlanta, Price first moved to WNC in 1984. He lived in Chapel Hill for a time while playing in a band, then restored and renovated older houses in Buncombe County before beginning his lumber recycling business.