The Republican will represent a newly redrawn district, heading to Congress as a freshman, after eight years in the state legislature.
Image Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner.
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Article by Steven Hale, The Nashville Banner republished under Creative Commons License –
Republican Johnny Garrett heads to Washington, D.C., after eight years in the state legislature, including seven as whip for the Republican supermajority. In Congress, he’ll become a freshman member of the minority party after being elected the representative from Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.
Navy veteran Mike Croley, a Democrat who ran against Garrett, came up short with 47.5 percent of the votes. Garrett’s margin of victory was roughly 7,000 votes.
Garrett and Croley both advanced to the general election out of competitive primaries. Garrett defeated former congressman Van Hilleary by nearly 15 points in a race marked by AI-generated deepfake attack ads, including one depicting Garrett posing alongside drag queens and pining for a Kamala Harris presidency. Croley, a Navy veteran and former state park ranger, won a tight five-way Democrat primary.
Garrett’s campaign framed him as a devoted MAGA lieutenant, highlighting his support for President Donald Trump, campaigning alongside Sen. Marsha Blackburn and touting endorsements from U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee).
Croley was the polar opposite, emphasizing his resistance to a president he called “sexist and racist,” highlighting corruption in the administration and running against data centers and roving masked immigration agents. Croley’s repeated calls for a debate were ignored by Garrett, who also declined to respond to the Banner’s candidate questionnaire.
In their own ways, both candidates sought to project themselves as outsiders with a real connection to Tennesseans. Despite his support for the president and establishment endorsements, Garrett promised to fight against “the swamp” and sported MAGA-inspired hats with the slogan “Make America Tennessee.”
Croley, meanwhile, told the Banner in September that he believed his campaign could have momentum because “people are so tired of not having their voices heard in Washington, D.C.”
