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GREENSBORO — Rumor has it there are a number of hotly contested races for federal office in other parts of the nation, perhaps even in North Carolina.

But the 6th Congressional District, which has been represented by Republican Rep. Howard Coble of Greensboro for 26 years, probably is not one of them.

Coble, 79, benefits from a district that boasts a strong base of GOP voters, which would give Democratic challenger Sam Turner a difficult task even if he were a seasoned campaigner.

But Turner is far from seasoned. The Salisbury airline pilot has never held elective office.

Even so, Turner said he is enjoying his first campaign. He says he relishes the opportunity to play the role of truth teller, talking about how many of the nation’s problems stem from corporate corruption and international chicanery.

“Even people who say they’re Republicans and friends of Howard, they come up and say it’s really refreshing to hear someone say these things,” Turner said. “But people don’t want to hear it.”

Coble said he has weathered 13 terms on Capitol Hill by siding with his party most of the time, but also by thinking for himself.

“I’m partisan, but I’m not a fool about it,” Coble said.

For example, he was an early Republican doubter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, raising questions as early as January 2005. Later during the Bush administration, he voted with the losing side against a $91 billion, supplemental spending bill supported by other Republican leaders.

Turner stresses his independent streak as well, describing himself as a former conservative Republican who would chart his own course if elected to Congress.

Turner grew up in Salisbury, graduated from N.C. State with an engineering degree and then enlisted in the Air Force, where he flew refueling and supply planes for 12 years.

He left active duty in 1997 and now flies for United Airlines, mainly on domestic routes.

If he should defeat Coble, he would take a leave of absence from the airline, which has a relatively lenient policy on leave taking, he said.

The 49-year-old Turner believes the nation’s current economic predicament is the inevitable result of such forces as the World Trade Organization, international bankers and corporations, as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement and America’s many other free-trade pacts.

They all work against the United States’ economic interests, and the federal government must take steps to counteract them or residents will continue to see a decline in their standard of living, he said.

“The corporations have corrupted Washington, D.C., not just the legislative branch but also the regulators,” Turner said.

Coble says the election’s key issue — and the source of America’s current malaise — comes down to a single word: jobs.

The key to reinvigorating the economy and reducing unemployment is improving the environment for businesses of all sorts, particularly smaller firms, Coble believes.

That involves reinstating the expiring tax cuts initially approved under President George W. Bush and resisting new programs that could put extra burdens on the economy, such as the “cap and trade” initiative to reduce air pollution, Coble said.

“Jobs, unemployment, reckless government spending, these three are all tied together,” he said.

The two candidates differ on the health care reforms pushed through by the Democrats.

Turner believes they do not go far enough and favors the “single payer” system similar to what exists in Britain and Canada.

Coble would like to either scrap the new law entirely or rework it to salvage those parts that he says make sense.

He opposes giving government too much control of health care, believing that President Barack Obama made a critical mistake in picking health care as a centerpiece issue.

“That’s not to say health care is not a vital issue and needs to be addressed,” Coble said. “But jobs should be No. 1.”

Coble has raised about $480,000 in campaign contributions for his re-election bid. Turner has raised a fraction of that, about $3,775, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that tracks political fundraising.

As his fundraising level implies, Turner has not assembled a large campaign organization.

He attends forums and other political events as they fit into his United Airlines flight schedule.

He acknowledges that the odds of winning are stacked against him.

Coble actually faced what appears to have been a more difficult hurdle in the May primary, which attracted five GOP challengers seeking to be the party’s 6th District standard bearer.

It seemed impossible he could garner 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff in the field that included such viable candidates as Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow.

But Coble ended up winning with nearly two-thirds of the votes.

He agrees that he has to be considered a solid front-runner Nov. 2.

But he’s less certain the GOP will pull off the sweeping, nationwide congressional victory that some pundits think could equal or surpass the party’s “Contract with America” success of 1994. Democrats are better prepared this time around, he said.

“They didn’t see it coming in ’94. This time, they see it coming.”

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com