Democrat Victoria Broderick takes another crack at incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais, whose district now includes a piece of Nashville.
Image Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner & Canva.
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only. It has been edited by The Tennessee Conservative for writing style and length.
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Article by Stephen Elliott [The Nashville Banner, Creative Commons] –
Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District has historic ties to Nashville.
Between the late 1970s and early 1990s, the district mostly encompassing rural areas to the southeast of Nashville was represented by Al Gore and then Jim Cooper, two Democrats well known to voters in the capital city.
Since 2010, when Republican physician Scott DesJarlais was first elected in the district, it has largely receded from the statewide political stage. It did not include any of Tennessee’s major cities. Now, though, redistricting has shoved the 4th into Nashville, setting up a potentially more competitive general election.
When Republicans carved up the Memphis-based 9th Congressional District in May, the 4th got moved, too. It still encompasses the southern half of the Cumberland Plateau and Murfreesboro. It lost a small corner of Rutherford County and Lawrence, Giles and Lincoln counties along Tennessee’s border with Alabama. Notably, the 4th District now includes the southeastern corner of Davidson County.
In 2024, DesJarlais beat first-time candidate Victoria Broderick, the Democrat nominee, by more than 40 percentage points. With the new territory, the district appears friendlier to Democrats, though still a longshot.
According to a Tennessee Lookout analysis, President Donald Trump would have won the new-look 4th by 24 points had the lines been in place in 2024, compared to the nearly 44 points he prevailed by.
Broderick is on the ballot again (despite her Lincoln County home being drawn out of the district, like several other candidates on the ballot across the state this cycle). A 34-year-old tech support worker and member of the Tennessee Democratic Party executive committee, she emerged from the August Democratic primary despite facing Metro Councilmember Mike Cortese, who had more money than the rest of the field (DesJarlais included) combined.
“I didn’t stop campaigning after the 2024 election,” Broderick told the Banner after a forum last week at Rutherford County Baptist Church in Smyrna. “I literally hit the ground the next month, and I think that that’s what we’re going to see. We’re also seeing a district that is a little bit different and is more competitive, but it’s been written off by both the right and the left, so it gives me an opportunity to do the work on the ground, and we’re going to see the result of that.”
Though DesJarlais has not set any fundraising records, Broderick still lags behind him, having raised less than $60,000 (compared to DesJarlais’ more than $500,000) as of the most recent fundraising report.
DesJarlais has been rated as exceptionally loyal to Trump and committed to conservative policy positions by groups like the Heritage Foundation. He did lightly question Trump’s “tone” with allies in a recent committee hearing. He also criticized the Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to close a clinic in the district, which the administration has since delayed, at least temporarily.
In a recent interview, DesJarlais stood by his support of Trump.
“Unfortunately, some of the major voter issues Trump accomplishes too quickly that people forget to appreciate what he did,” the representative said.
He said he supports Trump’s immigration enforcement, decried indoctrination in schools and, speaking on the anniversary of 9/11, expressed bafflement that New Yorkers had elected a Muslim mayor.
“I’ve listened to him, has a lot of charisma,” DesJarlais said of Zohran Mamdani. “Maybe Hitler did, too.”
On immigration, DesJarlais said, “I praise ICE. I praise what President Trump’s trying to do. … Go after the violent criminals first.”
DesJarlais also defended the war in Iran.
“Everyone who is hating this war on Iran, they don’t see it from a more detailed level like I do,” he said, adding that it is necessary to weaken Iran ahead of a potential future conflict with China, “kind of like taking a bishop off the chessboard.”
“Trump maybe overpromised too early,” he continued. “He underestimated the Revolutionary Guard’s ability to let their own people suffer.”
But he said the higher costs are worth what he described as national security gains.
“We don’t like paying higher prices at the pump,” DesJarlais said. “We don’t like all the higher prices in the grocery store. And we’re all feeling it. We’re all feeling the pain. Everyone talks about the economy because that’s something you notice every day, but you also got to think about national security.”
Jacob Anders and Clay Faircloth are on the ballot as independents.
One Response
It amazes me that the party that demonizes white peoples keep selecting white people to run for the “party of diversity.” I guess that makes the Left hypocrites and that they really don’t want diversity.
Don’t sit home, folks. Get out and vote and get involved.