Gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith and 11th Congressional District candidate Carl Mumpower won informal straw polls at the Henderson County Republican Men's Club today.

Mumpower, an Asheville City Council member, received 24 votes. Former Henderson County Republican Party Chairman Spence Campbell received 14 votes and Highlands Attorney John Armor won three votes. The candidates are competing to face Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, in November.

Smith, a state senator from Clayton, received 28 votes in the race for the Republican nomination for governor. Former Supreme Court justice and Bob Orr, who grew up in Hendersonville, received 12 votes, attorney Bill Graham received 1 vote and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory received none.

Men's Club President Philip Stanley said the club would conduct another poll in April to see if the votes had changed.

The article above was published in the Hendersonville Times-News on February 27, 2008.