Congressional hopefuls emphasize affordability and ‘America First’ ideology.
Image Credit: Van Hilleary, Johnny Garrett & Canva
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.
This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter.
by Anna Blubaugh [The Nashville Banner, Creative Commons] –
St. George Marina in Cumberland County can’t escape the Tennessee summer heat. In early July, local organizers gathered under a wooden picnic shelter overlooking the water to escape the blazing sun. After glancing at the red, white and blue pamphlets describing conservative candidates, visitors repurposed them into handheld fans — the wooden fans working overtime from the shelter ceiling just don’t seem to be cutting it. Sweet tea and water are consumed quickly and generously.
That Wednesday morning/afternoon, just over 20 Crossvillians showed up to meet Van Hilleary, just over two weeks before the Tennessee primary elections begin. With incumbent Rep. John Rose running for governor, Hilleary is one of many candidates vying to fill Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District seat in the fall. The district encompasses Cookeville, Hendersonville and northeastern parts of Davidson County. The district has been reliably Republican since before the 2022 cycle, when it was redrawn to include part of Nashville. Though new district lines hastily drawn earlier this year are as-yet untested, most analyses still view the constituency as red.
Hilleary’s close ties to Rose are a throughpoint in his campaign. After serving four terms representing Tennessee’s District 4 from 1994 to 2002, Hilleary unsuccessfully ran for governor and U.S. Senate. Starting in 2019, Hilleary served as Rose’s chief of staff before leaving to launch his current congressional campaign. Despite their working relationship, Rose has not endorsed a candidate to represent his current district.
At the marina gathering facilitated by the Cumberland County Republican Party, Hilleary spent more than an hour discussing his plans to balance the federal budget, set congressional term limits and reinstate “American values.” Although he emphasized that he doesn’t agree with Trump on all fronts, Hilleary made it clear that he backs Trump’s “America First” ideology.
“You saw where really far, far left Democrats were being elected to office now. They’re kind of taking over the Democratic Party,” Hilleary told the Banner. “They don’t really love our country, and if they do take over the Democratic Party, it’s going to be hard to work with them, because at the end of the day, they want to tear the country down and create something else.”
Johnny Garrett, the other Republican frontrunner, is also staunchly pro-Trump. Garrett has served as House Republican whip in Tennessee’s state legislature since 2020 and is known for his involvement in passing legislation targeting transgender athletes, gender-affirming healthcare and undocumented immigration. Though Trump has not endorsed in the race, U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and conservative influencer Riley Gaines have backed Garrett. Hilleary’s endorsements include state Sen. Paul Bailey and the mayors of Crossville and Cumberland and Sumner counties.
“I’m running for this to make sure we help President Trump deport illegals, those who aren’t supposed to be here,” Garrett said at a candidate forum hosted by the Tennessee Farm Bureau Association on June 15. “We’re doing that right here in the state. We had a package for legislation to make sure Tennessee was closed to illegal immigration.”
Garrett also strongly supported the recent congressional redistricting that cut almost all of Sumner, Macon, Trousdale, Cannon and Van Buren counties from District 6. Now, the district spans further east, gaining portions of Morgan, Wilson and Scott counties. The redistricting also saw District 6 lose some of its Davidson County territory, save a northeastern stretch of the county.
The redistricting significantly affects Garrett, who currently represents much of Sumner County in the state legislature. Now that the bulk of Sumner County lies in District 7, many of Garrett’s current constituents are unable to vote for him for Congress.
A handful of Democrats jumped into the race following the redistricting, including former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who pulled a petition to run but never submitted it.
Democrats who did submit their petitions include Lore Bergman, Mike Croley, Christopher Martin Finley and Chaney Mosley.
Croley, a veteran and former federal employee, rebuked the state legislature’s decision to redistrict and promised to “mess stuff up” in Washington, D.C.
“They gave us all of Wilson County, which was a mistake, and they gave us Morgan County, which was another mistake,” Croley said at a Davidson County Democrats meeting on June 23. “And they’re going to pay for it, and I can’t wait for that.”
Across party lines, almost every candidate for District 6 says they want to decrease the cost of living. According to a Think Tennessee report, the cost of essentials in Tennessee has increased faster than wages since 2020.
“We’re talking about affordability,” Hilleary told the Banner. “If the federal government’s borrowing money every year, that means the cost of borrowing money is higher, which means if you’re trying to buy a house, the cost is greater.”
Republican candidate Jon Henry is also running to represent District 6, as well as independents Angus Purdy and Christopher B. Monday. Another Republican candidate, Natisha Brooks, suspended her campaign and endorsed Hilleary last week.
One Response
Van Hilleary served in the US House previously from 1995 to 2003 where he compiled a solid conservative record so that his Heritage conservative score was regularly over 90%. On the other hand, Johnny Garrett is currently serving in the Tenn. House where the TLRC gives him a lifetime conservative score of 79%/B.
Clearly Van is the more conservative of the two and he has already established an impressive conservative record in the office he is now seeking. No reason to take chances. VOTE VAN HILLEARY!