Congressman Scott DesJarlais stands with wife Amy while addressing supporters. Credit Nina Cardona/WPLN
In the only hotly contested congressional race in Tennessee, Scott DesJarlais pulled out a victory, despite a second election cycle marked by unsavory details from his past.
Two years ago, his opponent released descriptions, lifted from decade-old divorce records, of DesJarlais threatening violence against his ex-wife and himself. This time, the news was a recorded phone call, also from the time of his divorce, in which the pro life Republican pressured his mistress to have an abortion.
DesJarlais referenced both rounds of mudslinging as he thanked supporters.
“We’ve endured. The methods that were used in the last election didn’t work and they didn’t work this time.”
But that celebration was slow in coming.
The DesJarlais camp watched returns with Franklin County Republicans at a law office in Winchester. The mood was initially jubilant with volunteers calling out totals to the crowd of supporters jamming a broad hallway.
“We got an update on a new county. Lincoln County is in. Eric Stewart 3,125, Scott DesJarlais 7,120.” (crowd cheers)
Again and again, there were bigger numbers for DesJarlais than for his Democratic challenger.
But then the announcements stopped. After thirty minutes, then an hour with no updates, the explanation: there still weren’t any returns from Rutherford County thanks to some kind of problem counting absentee ballots there.
Eventually, the Congressman did come out to deliver a sort of conditional victory speech to a thinned out group of supporters.
“I spent my last term in office trying to do what I promised the first time around, that was to repeal Obamacare, get control of the spending and the deficit, and I look forward to continuing to do that, assuming Rutherford County turns out the way we want it to.”
It did. After the Congressman said his thank yous and goodbyes. Rutherford County turned in a win for DesJarlais. Across the district as a whole, he had 56 percent of the vote.
All nine Tennessee incumbents in the U.S. House won reelection. Senator Bob Corker also won handily.
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