Mark Barrett

mbarrett@citizen-times.com

Former 11th District U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler expressed no interest in running for U.S. Senate next year in a statement Tuesday but did not definitively rule out the possibility either.

"I am enjoying my work at Duke Energy, a great company, and that is my focus," reads the statement in its entirety. It was issued after the Citizen-Times contacted Shuler's office to ask about a report he is considering a 2016 bid for the seat now held by Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican.

Shuler became Duke's senior vice president for federal affairs in 2013, shortly after serving three terms in the U.S. House representing most of Western North Carolina.

His name often comes up when possible Democratic candidates for the Senate seat are discussed. Washington-based National Journal reported last week that Shuler was "actively exploring" the possibility of running, quoting two unnamed sources it said had knowledge of the situation.

No prominent Democrats have announced a candidacy and some have said they will not run, including state Treasurer Janet Cowell, state Sen. Josh Stein, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, the former Charlotte mayor.

Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, called Shuler's words Tuesday, "clearly a non-statement statement, and I think it leaves open the door for him to do whatever he wants to do. I think he could quell these rumors (of a candidacy) if he wanted to and he hasn't."

Michael Bitzer, a professor of political science at Catawba College, had a similar reaction.

Whoever runs will have to spend a lot of time raising money to finance an effort to build name recognition in what will be a busy political year, Bitzer said. He said the question with Shuler is, "Does he have the fire in the belly?" to run.

Cooper said Shuler could easily decide not to run.

"A guy like Heath Shuler is making good money and making policy in his own way" through his job with Duke, he said.

Shuler is a Swain County native and former NFL quarterback who now lives in Buncombe County. He declined to seek re-election in 2012 after the state General Assembly redrew the 11th District to be more favorable to a Republican candidate.

He is a conservative Democrat who sometimes had disagreements with Democratic leadership in Washington. That could work against him in a Democratic primary, but at this stage of the political cycle, Democrats do not even have one well-known candidate for Senate, much less the two needed to trigger a competitive primary race.

"Ideologically, he would be a good candidate. (North Carolina) is still a state with more Democratic than Republican identifiers," Cooper said.

Burr, Cooper said, would be favored next year, but "is not overwhelmingly popular."

However, he said, a strong candidate would need to be fundraising and making contacts in the state now.

"The best chance the Democrats have is to coalesce around someone very soon," he said.