The most competitive congressional race in Tennessee this year may hinge on forgiveness.
Republican Scott DesJarlais has drawn a strong primary opponent for the first time. He was able to fend off a Democratic challenger two years ago, even after it came out that the pro-life, pro-family congressman had pressured a mistress to have an abortion. DesJarlais has been trying to shake accusations of hypocrisy ever since. And now he’s trying to shake Jim Tracy.
At this year’s Mule Day, teams of hulking mules in ornate bridles clip-clop through the Columbia town square as DesJarlais stands atop a borrowed wagon. “This is our ride. Not bad,” he says.
Fourth District Congressman Scott DesJarlais chats with supporters during Mule Day in Columbia. Credit: Blake Farmer / WPLN
The physician from Jasper waves at voters on the parade route, like substitute teacher Teresa Hall of Marshall County. This mother of two says she couldn’t pick her congressman out of the crowd, but she’s heard the name.
“Something about the abortions last year, or something like that,” she says. “That’s about what comes to mind when I think of his name.”
And abortion is a dirty word in this solidly Republican district, stretching from Murfreesboro to the outskirts of Chattanooga. DesJarlais has said as little as possible about affairs and abortions, only that God has forgiven him.
But will voters?
“He’s a human, ain’t he?” says Randy Whitehead, while selling chickens on the roadside. “Everybody makes mistakes. So there you go.”
Attacking Character
But at a recent Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast in Columbia, it’s easy to find voters like Tommy Skelley who are ready to drop DesJarlais.
“I’m not real proud of him, of his past history,” he says. “I’m not real sure he’s a moral man.”
There’s a sense that DesJarlais was never fully vetted as a candidate. People didn’t even know how to pronounce his name when he upset Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis in the GOP tidal wave of 2010. He’s never had a significant primary challenge until now.
“I’m running for congress so you’re going to see me all summer,” State Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville tells a few old-timers flipping flapjacks.
The men chuckle at the mention of their congressman. One shouts, “all you had to say is you’re running against DesJarlais.”
“Alright, I’m running against DesJarlais, so I got your all’s vote,” Tracy says with a laugh.
State Sen. Jim Tracy chats with the cooks at a Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast in Columbia. Credit: Blake Farmer / WPLN
The digs on DesJarlais are somewhat indirect. For example, Tracy’s first TV ad is about “integrity.” And in interviews, he emphasizes his 36-year marriage and what he calls conservative family values.
“I’m 100 percent pro-life. I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman,” Tracy says without mentioning DesJarlais by name. “I don’t dance around it. His record is his record and people will decide on that when they vote.”
But Tracy isn’t really talking about DesJarlais’ voting record. In a Republican primary, Tracy doesn’t have much ammunition to work with.
DesJarlais almost never compromises with Democrats. The non-partisan National Journal ranked him the fourth most conservative member in all of Congress.
DesJarlais calls the focus on his rocky relationships an act of desperation.
“If somebody’s going back to the 90s to try to attack me on personal things – long before I was ever married to my wonderful wife Amy – and try to make that the issue of a campaign, it shows that they don’t have much to stand on themselves,” he says.
DesJarlais dings Tracy for helping usher in Common Core education standards to Tennessee – something both men now oppose. And the congressman points out that Tracy has basically been running for congress since 2010, when he lost a primary battle for another seat prior to Republican redistricting.
So these days, both men are hot on the campaign trail, occasionally winding up at the same ham breakfast.
As DesJarlais shakes some hands at a recent event hosted by the Maury County Farm Bureau, Tracy is literally right behind him, trying to steal supporters.
‘Dirty Politics’
“Oh I’ll get him,” Tracy says of one nearby DesJarlais supporter. “I can tell you, I can get him.”
Tracy has already turned the donor base his way. He’s outraised DesJarlais several times over, though the Federal Election Commission questioned whether some donors were exceeding contribution limits. The campaign says it was just a matter of couples giving but being listed as one person instead of two.
And while the recent defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has reminded voters that incumbents can fall, they usually don’t. Ninety percent of sitting congressmen won their races in the last cycle.
DesJarlais, for instance, has made friends with many farmers through his position on the House Agriculture Committee. And just because he has some baggage, doesn’t mean voters like Farm Bureau board member Catherine Choate want to keep hearing about it.
“I just don’t think it ought to be dirty politics all the time,” Choate says. “And I will vote against dirty politics.”
But Choate and her friends sipping coffee around this folding table also like Jim Tracy. “I always have,” she says. “See, I’ve known him for a very long time.”
Only in the privacy of a voting booth will some decide whether its time to start over or just forgive and forget.
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