Tennessee Rep. Mark Green will be leaving office shortly into his fourth term.
Green had initially said he would not run for re-election in 2024, but reversed course at the urging of President Donald Trump and his fellow Tennessee Republicans. Green now plans to vacate his position after passing a final version of Trump’s budget.
A special election will determine who represents Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
“I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up,” Green said in a statement. “Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump’s border security measures and priorities make it through Congress. By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that.”
Green’s re-election campaign, which featured few ads and even fewer events, had a September surprise when Green’s wife and children accused him of having an extramarital affair with a younger journalist. Green had filed for divorce shortly before the allegations were made public.
Still, Green handily won re-election in November, fending off a challenge from Megan Barry, the former mayor of Nashville. Parts of Music City were incorporated into the 7th Congressional District when the statehouse drew new maps in 2022, putting a portion of the red state’s blue dot city in the same district as Green’s home city of Clarksville. The district includes a wide rural swath to the west of Nashville, spanning to the Tennessee River.
Immigration policy has put Green at odds with local officials in Nashville. Prior to Monday night’s announcement, Green and Rep. Andy Ogles, whose district also includes parts of Nashville, sent a letter to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, alleging that his administration’s policies “threaten to chill immigration enforcement” in the city.
O’Connell has maintained that Nashville is not a sanctuary city, as such policies are banned by state law.
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