Adam Smith, a challenger to U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards in the Republican primary for House District 11, has officially filed his candidacy papers, he announced in a Dec. 3 news release.

“We’re starting to see a lot of optimism behind the campaign, a lot of grassroots support,” spokesperson Alex Fulton told the Times-News Dec. 3.

“I don’t really get excited about stuff after being in the military for as long as I was. When you get warning orders to deploy, you don’t get excited about it, you just get prepared,” Smith told the Times-News Dec. 3 as he returned to his home outside Black Mountain from Raleigh after filing his candidate paperwork.

“I think we have a really good chance of winning,” he said.

He’s running on a platform of constitutional originalism and changing the status quo in

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