Politics

Whitmire endorses Henson in GOP primary

Cody Henson speaks at Henderson County Republican Party breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 17.

By David Rhode, Published: January 16, 2016

State Rep. Chris Whitmire on Saturday endorsed Rosman resident Cody Henson for the 113th state House seat Whitmire is vacating at the end of his second term a year from now.

Discarding the traditional neutrality script for a primary race, Whitmire appeared in a video during Henson's campaigin kickoff Saturday night in Brevard. The event drew 120-130 people, Whitmire said in a news release. During his 20-minute campaign talk, Henson endorsed a "fair tax" that would replace the state income tax with a consumption tax.

"Why should we tax you for being productive?" Henson said. He also spoke strongly in favor of the Second Amendment, saying that "the founding fathers meant all kinds of arms, not just muskets," according to Whitmire's news release.

Like Whitmire, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Henson is in the military — a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He  is a call center supervisor in Arden. He faces Coty Ferguson, a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, real estate agent and an organizer for the John Kasich campaign. The district covers Transylvania and Polk counties and southern Henderson County.