The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber in Congress. Combined with the Senate, they create the legislative branch of our federal government. Our state is divided into nine Congressional districts, with Murfreesboro resting in the northernmost point of the Fourth Congressional District. Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District spans across 16 counties in Middle and East Tennessee. From Maury County to Bradley County, over 700,000 citizens are represented in this district. Since 2010, the district has consistently voted Republican when Scott Desjarlais defeated Lincoln Davis, the Democratic incumbent since 2002.

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Scott Desjarlais
scottdesjarlais.com

For seven years, Rep. Desjarlais has served in Congress on several committees, including the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Armed Services. Prior to arriving in Washington D.C., he had never held public office. Instead, Rep. Desjarlais spent most of his career as a general physician in Marion County, Tennessee. In 2010, Rep. Desjarlais sought office and won against the Democrat incumbent, Rep. Lincoln Davis, a significant milestone for the Republican party in Tennessee. This was the first time an incumbent had been unseated in Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District.

Rep. Desjarlais has a lifetime score of 93 percent from Americans for Prosperity, an “A” from the National Rifle Association, an “A” from Numbers USA and a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life for his pro-life voting record.

However, Rep. Desjarlais’ voting record on pro-life issues does not reflect his personal history. The Congressman from South Pittsburg, Tennessee, has run the entirety of his political career under a traditional family values platform. During his 2012 reelection campaign, records from his divorce with his first wife, Susan Desjarlais, became public. The records indicated that not only did the pro-life Congressman support his first wife’s two abortions, but he also had extramarital affairs with two patients, coworkers and a drug company representative. In his affairs with his patients, Rep. Desjarlais told one patient to seek an abortion and prescribed a now-banned painkiller to the other. In 2013, the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners fined Rep. Desjarlais for his sexual misconduct with patients.

“Tennesseans know they can count on me to never compromise on independent, conservative principles and that I will always fight for smaller government, less spending and more jobs,” DesJarlais said in a 2013 press release.

Rep. Desjarlais announced his re-election bid in October last year. In his campaign announcement, the representative cited military preparedness as a top issue in his reelection bid. During his campaign for 2018, Rep. Desjarlais has remarked on a crisis of military strength, training and strategy, relying on his experience in the House Committee on Armed Services. In addition to military policy, the representative continues to support traditional Republican platform items, such as border and immigration enforcement, repealing Obamacare and prohibiting abortions as top political issues.

Over the course of his political tenure, Rep. Desjarlais has faced numerous challengers, most notably, state Senator Jim Tracy in 2014. Rep. Desjarlais narrowly maintained his seat in 2014 when Sen. Tracy challenged him in the Republican primary. Sen. Tracy was unable to unseat the incumbent, losing by a mere 38 votes. This August, Rep. Desjarlais will face one primary challenger, Jack Maddux.

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Jack Maddux
maddux4uscongress.com

United States Navy veteran, retired Chattanooga police officer and political newcomer Jack Maddux entered Tennessee politics last spring by challenging the incumbent Congressman, Rep. Desjarlais, in the upcoming August primary election.

“My experience in the Navy, law enforcement and business has better prepared me to take action on the issues facing America and Tennessee,” Mr. Maddux said during his campaign announcement. “Scott Desjarlais has become too comfortable with Washington D.C. I will work hard to be an outspoken voice of the people of Tennessee and remain focused on results, not complacency. I hope that you will join me on this campaign to once again put people first.”

A longtime resident of Cleveland, Tennessee, Maddux has dedicated his career to serving others. In the United States Navy, Maddux entered an engineering career. At age 38, he joined the police force in Chattanooga, where he earned the distinctions of Rookie of the Year and Chattanooga Optimist Club Officer of the Year.

In December, Maddux received praise for signing the term limits pledge from U.S. Term Limits, a nonprofit grassroots organization that advocates for term limits at all levels of government. The term limits pledge states that “as a member of Congress I will co-sponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.” United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-FL) have introduced the amendment in Congress.

“Jack’s support of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to put self-interest aside to follow the will of the people,” said U.S. Term Limits, President Philip Blumel regarding Maddux’s pledge. “America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”

On his campaign website, Maddux lists abortion at the top of his campaign issues, stating “Our current Congressman refuses to state when life begins.” Maddux has also focused on policy issues such as strengthening our national security, protecting small business owners, eliminating financial waste at the federal level, repealing and replacing Obamacare with a system that benefits small-town America, smart immigration policies and protecting Americans’ rights granted under the Second Amendment.

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Steven Reynolds
stevenreynolds
forcongress.com

Returning from defeat in the 2016 general election, Steven Reynolds has returned to political life in an effort to unseat Rep. Desjarlais in the November general election this year. As the 2016 Democratic nominee for the Fourth Congressional District, Reynolds received more votes than any challenging Democrat in Tennessee and he received more votes than Hillary Clinton in all of the 16 counties in the district.

A lifelong resident of Middle Tennessee, Reynolds was raised in Manchester, Tennessee, attended Middle Tennessee State University and began his 30-year career in the infrastructure industry in Rutherford County. Reynolds says his roots as a blue-collar American in rural Tennessee have strongly shaped his political platform.

“I can remember back in Manchester, growing up as a child, there were these guys in white hats that would stand at the red light and take up money every summer,” Reynolds said during a 2017 campaign speech. “They would burn a cross in Manchester, Tennessee; I saw it with my own eyes. But we don’t see that anymore because good, reasonable, moral people have risen up and said ‘enough of that.’ We will not stand for this anymore.”

If elected, Reynolds seeks to utilize his three decades of experience in business management to advocate for manufacturing jobs in Tennessee, improve on our healthcare system, calling it a “moral issue” to care for our sick, poor and most vulnerable and returning the level of devotion our veterans have shown us to care for their needs.

“I will work to make a difference in the areas of good-paying jobs, infrastructure, education and healthcare in Tennessee, suburban and rural,” Reynolds said. “In addition, I will continue to stand for privacy, campaign finance reform and diplomacy.”

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Mariah Phillips
mariah4congress.com

The only woman to run for Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District in the 2018 election is Mariah Phillips, a Rutherford County teacher and graduate of the Emerge Tennessee program. Emerge Tennessee began last year with the mission of training Democratic women to run for office.

At 19 years old, Phillips began supporting herself as a barista at Starbucks. Twenty-one years later, Phillips is a U.S. government teacher at Daniel McKee Alternative School in Murfreesboro during the week and a barista at Starbucks on the weekends. A mother of five, Phillips says she works the two jobs to best provide a steady income and healthcare for her family.

Last May, Phillips announced her candidacy for the Fourth Congressional District on Facebook and filed with the Federal Elections Commission. Phillips’ campaign announcement followed immediately on the heels of Congress’ vote to repeal and replace Obamacare last year.

“As a citizen, mother, Christian and a teacher, I am devastated, not only because of the effects that my own family will endure, but the millions who will lose their healthcare and preventative care and the benefits of Medicaid assistance to children with disabilities,” Phillips wrote in response to her Congressman’s vote in favor of the American Health Care Act.

If elected, Phillips seeks to ensure education funding, streamlining the management of healthcare, introducing rural broadband as a public utility and protecting public lands from privatization and development.

Phillips’ campaign treasurer, Linda Sherrell, ran as Rep. Desjarlais’ Democratic opponent in the 2014 election cycle.

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In Other Races
Last month, gubernatorial candidate Mae Beavers announced that she was suspending her bid for governor. Beavers resigned her state Senate seat, which she had held since 2002, in order to focus on her gubernatorial campaign.

In a poll commissioned last month by the Committee to Defend the President, a political action committee supporting Congresswoman Blackburn’s bid for United States Senate, results found that Bredesen performed better than Rep. Blackburn in terms of favorability, though Rep. Blackburn received 44 percent of likely votes to Bredesen’s 39 percent. Another poll,conducted by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies, found Bredesen receiving 47 percent of the vote opposed to Rep. Blackburn’s 45 percent. As Republicans fear the possibility of losing a much-needed Senate seat, many have urged Senator Bob Corker to reconsider his retirement.

In September, Sen. Corker announced his retirement from the United States Senate, prompting both parties to seek his seat. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, former Congressman Stephen Fincher and former Tennessee Mayor Phil Bredesen entered the race for the vacant seat. However, in recent weeks, Sen. Corker’s spokesman has announced that the senator may reconsider his retirement. On Feb. 16, former Congressman Stephen Fincher announced that he was suspending his campaign and urged Sen. Bob Corker to seek re-election.

Next month, the Pulse will cover the local campaigns for the state legislature.