Cecil Bothwell

And just as quick, there's a horse race again for the Democratic nomination in NC-11. Hayden Rogers, Rep. Heath Shuler's Chief of Staff announced he would run today.

Hayden Rogers, a Robbinsville native and longtime chief of staff to Congressman Heath Shuler, announced his candidacy for Congress Wednesday for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

There's more than one way to sack the quarterback:

ASHEVILLE — Councilman Cecil Bothwell is mounting a challenge to Rep. Heath Shuler for the 11th Congressional District. Bothwell will run as an independent in 2012, facing Shuler and an as-yet-unknown Republican nominee.

Hopefully Cecil will still actually be in the 11th District after it's redrawn.

Tonight on The Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC, Asheville City Councilmen Cecil Bothwell will talk about nearly not being able to hold office in NC, because it is against the law for an atheist to hold office in the state.

The story has seen press from the NY Times (http://bit.ly/82FIcQ) to the Washington Post (http://bit.ly/5wdBaL). Tonight's Rachel Maddow show should be a great show to watch.

Cross-posted at dKos

Back on Thursday, I mentioned the saga of Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell. Some fundies over there want to bounce him from office because he's an atheist--and cite a provision in the state constitution that requires you to profess belief in God in order to hold office. Never mind that this provision is unenforceable due to numerous provisions of the federal Constitution (Article VI, the Supremacy Clause and the 1st and 14th Amendments). The Asheville City Council didn't back down, and Bothwell was duly sworn in.

But yesterday, the fundies vowed to press on.

One foe, H.K. Edgerton, is threatening to file a lawsuit in state court against the city to challenge Bothwell's appointment.