NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Polls closed Thursday night in a Tennessee primary that will decide a nine-way Republican battle in a reconfigured Nashville congressional district that the GOP hopes to flip. Democrats will choose a candidate for governor in what could be a historic attempt to topple the GOP incumbent.
Two of three Democratic candidates for governor would be the state’s first black Democratic candidate for that office; the third is a doctor running for political office for the first time, spurred by Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s hands-off response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee is running unopposed and would have a strong advantage in a general election in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 2006.
Redrawn congressional districts helped place Tennessee among the states where Republicans hope to flip a seat in a push to regain control of the U.S. House, providing the main drama in Tennessee’s primary. Tennessee held its only statewide election on Thursday.
Nashville’s 5th Congressional District drew heavy interest from Republicans after GOP state lawmakers carved Democratic-leaning Nashville into three districts, favoring their party in every seat. The longtime 5th District incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, decided to retire, saying there was “no way” he could win re-election under the new redistricting maps. The new district favored Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Joe Biden by 12 percentage points in 2020.
In the other two districts in the Nashville area, the Republican incumbents have no primary opponents. The new maps weight their districts in their favor.
In the 5th, state Sen. Heidi Campbell is unopposed in her Democratic primary and will take on the Republican winner in November. Two Democrats are facing off in the new 6th District, which includes more of Nashville, where Republican U.S. Rep. John Rose has a huge fundraising advantage.
There is also a complete list of state legislative primary races. In addition, Thursday is parliamentary election night for many local competitions. The highlight of those is in Shelby County — which includes Memphis — where Republican District Attorney Amy Weirich is facing a challenge from Democratic civil rights lawyer Steven Mulroy.
At least in Nashville, anyone who turns on a TV is more likely to see ads for a Republican running for the 5th Congressional District than a candidate for anything else.
Competing TV attacks — mostly driven by generically named outside groups with mega-wealthy donors — are trying to cast doubt on the conservative resumes of the three top fundraising Republican candidates: former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell, retired Tennessee National Guard Brig. . Gen. Kurt Winstead and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles.
Fellow GOP candidate Jeff Beierlein, who flew Black Hawk helicopters in the Army, bought TV ad time to rebut the mudslinging. Other candidates in the race are Geni Batchelor, a retired small business owner; former state legislator Tres Wittum; Natisha Brooks, who runs a homeschool academy; Timothy Lee, a paramedic; and Stewart Parks, a real estate businessman.
The election is the first time voters will have a say in a seat that has been the subject of months of Republican political brokering.
Political wrangling over the carefully drawn district — it winds through six counties — led the state Republican Party to knock three candidates off the ballot, including Trump’s choice, former State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus. One of the upstart candidates, video producer Robby Starbuck, tries his hand at a write-in campaign.
The governor, meanwhile, can relax on primary night. He avoided a Republican challenge. The last governor to enjoy a snap primary was Democratic Gov. Ned McWherter in 1990, Tennessee legislative historian Eddie Weeks said.
Democrats will find out who will face Lee in November. Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr. or Memphis community advocate Carnita Atwater would be the first black Democratic candidate for governor in state history. Critical care physician Jason Martin, who lives in Nashville, entered the race as a prominent critic of Lee’s pandemic response. Martin has decidedly outraised and spent more than the second highest fundraiser, Smiley.
Weeks said he could not find an African-American candidate for governor, Democrat or Republican, in the history of the state. Still, he noted that William Yardley, an African-American Knoxville official later elected to the county court, ran as an independent in 1876 when the Republican Party declined to nominate a candidate for governor. Democratic Governor James Davis Porter won re-election that year.
Tennessee had a black Democratic nominee for the US Senate as recently as 2020.
Lee, meanwhile, defeated a Democratic challenger by 21 percentage points in 2018. He heads into November with a huge fundraising advantage and the power to power.
