By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Scott Keadle says he’s proven he can cut spending and debt on a local level, and he wants the chance to do the same in Congress.
Keadle, a Republican and former Iredell County Commissioner, is running to represent North Carolina’s 8th District in the U.S. House. The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Democrat.
Keadle lives in Mooresville, which is outside the 8th District lines. But he says he’s probably fixed the teeth of 10,000 district residents over the past 20 years as a dentist in Salisbury.
“I know I can make a difference on national issues, because I made a difference as a county commissioner,” he said during an interview in Salisbury. “I get results.”
Keadle said he led the fight to cut Iredell County’s deficit in half and cut revenue and spending by 12 percent during his term.
Before moving to Iredell in 2003, Keadle lived in Rowan County, where he ran for county commissioner in 1996.
He has run for Congressional office in the 10th District and previously received the Republican nomination in the 12th.
“We need to stop spending money that we don’t have and produce a balanced budget, and we need to stop Obamacare,“ Keadle said.
Keadle said wants to end “excessive regulation,” which he said causes uncertainty and discourages hiring, and promote domestic energy.
“The number of new regulations that (the Environmental Protection Agency has) written has virtually shut down the coal, gas and oil industries domestically,” he said.
Since 1998, Keadle has been a member of American Legion Post No. 185 in China Grove, where Commander “Wild” Bill Corriher has endorsed him for Congress.
Keadle also has won the endorsement of Darlene Blount, a leader in the Rowan Tea Party Patriots.
“I’m supporting Scott because he’s a proven conservative leader, who gets conservative results,” Blount said in a press release. “He will lead the fight to scale back government, balance the budget, and get Americans back to work.”
Keadle will enter the Republican primary with five other announced candidates — Dan Barry, mayor pro tem of Weddington; Richard Hudson, a Concord business consultant; former Winston-Salem City Council member Vernon Robinson; N.C. Rep. Fred Steen, who represents the 76th District in the state House; and John Whitley, a Fairmont neurosurgeon.