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If not a slam-dunk or a lead-pipe cinch, the contest between second-term US Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R) and his primary challenger state Sen. Jim Tracy (R) in Tennessee’s 4th District (Columbia, etc.) was supposed to be a headed to a fairly certain victory for the challenger. “Everybody assumed (DesJarlais’s) goose was cooked,” opined one Tennessee newsman, who added, “It’s a fight… It’s not the done deal for Tracy that everyone thought it was a couple of months ago.”
The early assumption that Tracy would beat DesJarlais, despite his having the advantages of incumbency, was based on the abortion scandal from DesJarlais’ past that appeared to be sealing his fate in the August 7 Republican Primary. As a result, the money and the muscle that comes from the state’s GOP establishment pretty much deserted DesJarlais.
The scandal became public toward the end and shortly after his 2012 campaign. In essence, it was revealed as a physician, he’d had an affair with a patient, she became pregnant, and he advised her to get an abortion. These revelations came in 2000 during divorce proceedings with his former wife. He has since married again and has three children. Complicating the matter is that DesJarlais has run as a pro-Life conservative from the get-go.
But despite carrying this heavy baggage, DesJarlais is proving difficult to dislodge. Some say it’s because many voters still haven’t learned of the years-old scandal – despite the considerable publicity it has attracted.
On the other hand, in his four years in Congress, DesJarlais has made a record that appeals to the district’s conservative electorate, including cosponsoring “fair tax” legislation and attacking Obamacare on the same grounds that the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia recently used to declare a key provision of the Act unconstitutional. His record on gun control has won him the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. And he has worked on agricultural and veterans issues.
On his website, DesJarlais notes that the National Journal ranked him the fourth most conservative Republican in the House and that the Congressional Quarterly places him in the top five representatives in consistently opposing President Obama’s agenda.
As a result, DesJarlais has a loyal following among many conservative voters, a following not easily persuaded to remove him from office.
In mid-July, DesJarlais announced that he had cancer in his neck and began radiation and chemotherapy. He said his doctors told him this type of cancer had a 90% cure rate and he and his doctors expect a full recovery, reported The Tennessean. There is no evidence so far of any political impact, in either direction, from this circumstance.
Jim Tracy is a state senator and small business owner (insurance). Prior to opening his own business, Tracy was a science teacher, coach and NCAA basketball referee. He has an impressive record of civic activities, including membership or holding office in the chamber of commerce, the Rotary Club, the YMCA, National Federation of Independent Business, and Habitat for Humanity. Tracy has served in the state Senate for ten years and currently chairs the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee.
In 2010, Tracy ran for Congress in the old 6th District, finishing third in the GOP primary.
While Tracy has avoided a direct reference to DesJarlais’ abortion scandal in his TV spots, perhaps for fear of a backlash, he has hit the issue head-on in his less-visible direct mail campaign. “Abortions. Affairs. Abuse of Power. We can’t trust DesJarlais to Fight for Our Values,” was the headline in one of his mailers, reports Chattanooga’s Times-Free Press.
DesJarlais, though not as well-funded as Tracy, began television spots in mid-July, attacking Tracy for supporting Common Core education standards and for trying “to make gas taxes automatic.”
At least one poll, taken in June by Citizens for Ethics in Government, a conservative group, showed 45% for DesJarlais to 20% for Tracy. The survey was taken before Tracy began his TV campaign. Tracy is now running a flood of TV ads attacking DesJarlais, suggesting his camp might feel he’s behind.
On the money front, by June 30 Tracy had received $1,397,000 and had $705,000 cash-on-hand. DesJarlais had taken in only $405,000, with $185,000 on hand.
Two candidates with lesser prospects are also running in the GOP primary.
Yomi Faparusi Sr. is an immigrant to the United States. He has a medical degree from his native Nigeria, and a law degree and a PhD in public health from American universities. As of mid-year, Faparusi had received $54,000 in campaign funds, with $2,000 cash-on-hand.
Steve Lane teaches building at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville. As of June 30, he had received $31,000 and had about $3,000 cash-on- hand. He has been on TV, however.
The Democratic nominee is Lenda Sherrell, who has no primary opposition. A CPA with experience in both education and business, Sherrell is “very intelligent and very accomplished,” says state Democratic Chairman Roy Herron; “she comes across very comfortably, is very personable.” She is married to a physician and they have two grown children. As of June 30, her campaign had received $455,000, with $134,000 cash-on-hand.
Sherrell’s prospects depend on DesJarlais’s winning renomination. His personal baggage is such that a number of socially conservative Republicans might decline to vote for him in November, either sitting out the race or voting for Sherrell. A woman running against DesJarlais automatically presents a contrast with the scandals in the incumbent’s past.
If, however, Tracy defeats DesJarlais for the GOP nod, it will make Sherrell’s task in this Republican district (Romney 65%) much more difficult. Tracy does have some hard-right state Senate votes on abortion and gun control which Sherrell might use to appeal to some women voters, but that’s not enough in this conservative region.
GOP bigwigs, financial and political, have mostly ignored DesJarlais’s campaign. However, if DesJarlais wins the primary, the party is likely to put some resources into his campaign, because Democrat Sherrell might run a competitive race. “If Tracy wins (the primary),” concludes the newsman, “the Democrats don’t have a chance.” Stay tuned.
