Coble to run for 15th term in Congress

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble is running for a 15th term in North Carolina’s 6th District, he announced Friday.

Coble, who was first elected in 1984, said in a prepared statement that he was excited to run in the new district. The 6th District will no longer include part of Rowan County under redistricting maps adopted by the General Assembly last year.

In fact, the newly drawn district includes only two of his current six counties, along with eight new counties.

“I am proud of my accomplishments during my 28 years in the U.S. House, and I am equally excited about serving portions of the state that I have never represented before,” Coble said in the statement.

“Folks who live in the 6th Congressional District now will vouch for my leadership and experience, and I look forward to proving to the citizens in the new portions of the 6th that I am worthy of their support.”

The new district maps haven’t cleared every hurdle yet, but a panel of judges last week refused to delay the scheduled May 8 primaries while they consider lawsuits challenging the plans drawn up by the Republican-controlled state legislature.

Meanwhile, Coble hasn’t forgotten his current district. He’s still traveling throughout the area and will make several stops in Rowan County on Monday.

At 10 a.m., he will tour Ei Pharmaceutical SolutionWorks at 2865 N. Cannon Blvd., Kannapolis.

He will then tour the N.C. Research Campus on North Main Street in Kannapolis at 11 a.m.

Coble will make a lunch stop at 11:45 a.m. at Gary’s Barbecue, 620 Highway 29 N. in China Grove, before heading to a 1 p.m. tour of Hitachi Metals of North Carolina at 1 Hitachi Metals Drive in China Grove.

At 2 p.m., Coble will go to his congressional office, 805 S. Salisbury Ave. in Granite Quarry, for previously scheduled constituent appointments.

“I know people will wonder if I am up to the task of running for another two years,” Coble said in the statement. “None of us knows what the future holds, but I feel I am a better representative today than when I first assumed this office.”

Coble, 80, said doctors have said he is recovering well from an upper respiratory infection that hospitalized him in December, and if he felt up to it, they saw no reason why he shouldn’t continue in office.

“Yes, I may be old, but I am also old-fashioned, too, where I feel you should judge a man by his record and his word,” Coble said. “Without sounding too immodest, I feel that I have crafted a record of solid legislative achievement along with outstanding constituent service. I also think that the people can trust what I tell them.”