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ASHEVILLE (AP) — It's the type of election year where a small-town dry cleaner with no experience in politics has a chance to upend a widely known former football star flush with campaign cash.

Such is the case in far western North Carolina, where Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler is battling to gain a third term in office. Republican candidate Jeff Miller, who owns a dry-cleaning business in Hendersonville, has managed to build a competitive campaign by raising more than half a million dollars from individual donors.

"It's a David and Goliath battle, and that always draws attention," Miller said.

Of course, Miller also has been aided by outside groups who are throwing plenty of stones at Shuler. The early stages of the race drew more than $750,000 from conservative group Americans for Job Security, which accused the lawmaker in advertising of "supporting (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi's liberal agenda."

Shuler has responded by repeatedly telling his constituents about the ways he has broken from party leadership. He opposed the massive health care overhaul, stimulus package and bank bailout.

"I know you're mad at Congress, and so am I. Most people up there confuse spending more and more money with helping people," Shuler says in one advertisement. "You didn't send me up there to blindly follow any one party. You sent me up there to do what's right for our mountain families."

In another spot, Shuler declares, "I'm not Nancy Pelosi."

Miller criticizes Shuler's votes on a cap-and-trade energy proposal and support of a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize. He'd says he'd like to see the health law repealed and to see a focus on government spending.

Former President Bill Clinton came to campaign for Shuler in the final weeks of the race and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began airing ads opposing Miller.

"I have lived long enough to know — even if you forget about politics — every time you make a decision when you're mad, there's about an 80 percent chance you'll make a mistake," Clinton said at the event, appealing to voters to consider Shuler.

Shuler, 38, is a former quarterback at the University of Tennessee who went on to a brief career in the NFL. He won his seat in 2006 while campaigning with a conservative message and handily took re-election two years ago with 62 percent of the vote. He entered the final month of this year's race with more than $1 million to spend.

The laundry and dry cleaning business that Miller runs in Hendersonville has been in the family since his grandfather opened it in 1915. Miller, 56, also founded a program that takes veterans to the nation's capital to visit the National World War II Memorial.

Baker reported from Raleigh. Associated Press Writer Tom Breen in Raleigh contributed to this report.