Bicycling

Bike-Hating Rep. Patrick McHenry Fends Off Challenger

Congresswoman-elect Kathy Dahlkemper overcame ridicule for her "wacky" notion that Pennsylvanians should try walking and cycling. But down in western North Carolina, voters returned Rep. Patrick McHenry -- shown here mocking, and misrepresenting, the federal bike commuter tax benefit -- to Washington.

By Brad Aaron

4:00 PM EST on November 6, 2008

Sponsored

Congresswoman-elect Kathy Dahlkemper overcame ridicule for her “wacky” notion that Pennsylvanians should try walking and cycling. But down in western North Carolina, voters returned Rep. Patrick McHenry — shown here mocking, and misrepresenting, the federal bike commuter tax benefit — to Washington.

Though his state also went for Barack Obama, the outspoken conservative Republican defeated Democratic challenger Daniel Johnson handily. The Hickory Record reports:

“The morals and values I took with me to Washington — I still have
them,” he said. “I’m not going to stop fighting for conservative ideals
now.”

McHenry’s values and ideals have earned him a lot of views on YouTube, where his anti-cycling speech has been given special treatment.

Video: GreenMaterialism/YouTube

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

Bicycling | Bike/Ped | Energy | Oil

Support Streetsblog

Comments Are Temporarily Disabled

Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.

Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.