Former Sixth District Congressman Howard Coble, who died in 2015, is receiving an honor from current Sixth District Congressman Mark Walker.

The US Post Office at 1585 Yanceyville St. in Greensboro will be renamed the J. Howard Coble Post Office Building following a bill sponsored by Walker that passed the House this week.

Walker, who has represented the Sixth District in Congress since 2014, did not run for reelection in 2020 and will be leaving Congress next month. However, Walker is not leaving politics and has announced he will run for the US Senate seat currently held by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who has announced he will not run for a fourth term.

About Coble in a press release Walker said, “For more than three decades, Howard Coble blessed our community with his humbling leadership, representing the Greensboro area valiantly throughout the halls of Congress. It is my utmost honor to see this permanent reminder of his service passed the House so the legacy of my friend and mentor will continue to live on for generations to come.”

Coble was first elected to represent the Sixth District in Congress in 1984. At that time the Sixth District was about as much of a swing district as it could be. In 1978, Democrat Richardson Preyer won. In 1980, Republican Gene Johnston won. In 1982, Democrat Robin Britt won and, in 1984, Republican Howard Coble won. Coble came exceeding close to being a one-term congressman himself, winning reelection in 1986 by a mere 79 votes. That win earned him the nickname in Congress “Landslide Coble.”

After that 1986 election, Coble was not seriously challenged in an election in part because of the extraordinary effort he made to take care of his constituents.

Coble was also known for riding in as many Christmas parades as humanly possible, and for knowing the mascots of every high school in his district. Since the Sixth District kept getting redrawn, this was much more of a challenge than it might seem.

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