Tennessee Waltz

Like most of the 24 U.S. House seats that are being abandoned by Republican incumbents this year, that of four-term Rep. Ed Bryant (Tenn.), now a U.S. Senate hopeful, is considered fairly safe GOP turf and an excellent bet not to change party hands.

In 1972, Marine Corps veteran Robin Beard, the state personnel commissioner, unseated Democratic Rep. (1964-72) William Anderson after a hard-hitting campaign in which Beard branded the incumbent "an ultraliberal bum." Since then, Tennessee's 7th District has remained in unbroken Republican control. When Beard left to run unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1982, he was succeeded by fellow Republican Don Sundquist-who ran as an unabashed conservative. Sundquist, in turn, was elected governor in 1994 and succeeded by Bryant, onetime U.S. attorney and Pat Robertson for President operative in Tennessee.

With Bryant (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 97%) now locked in a fierce primary fight for the GOP Senate nomination against onetime presidential hopeful Lamar Alexander, there's another primary battle going on in the 7th to determine his heir in Congress. Both contests will be decided August 1.

The two front-runners in the GOP congressional sweepstakes are State Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Williamson County and Memphis City Councilman Brent Taylor. For weeks, Blackburn has been enjoying increased publicity and endorsements-in large part because of the press she received as one of the first lawmakers to defy Gov. Sundquist's request to impose a state income tax. In recognition for her opposition to the governor the group has branded a RING (Republican in Name Only), Stephen Moore's Club for Growth gave its blessings to Blackburn.

But geography may be working against Blackburn. Her suburban Nashville home county was redistricted only last year into the 7th from the neighboring 6th District (where Blackburn challenged Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon in 1992). Williamson County is also expected to cast only 16% of the primary vote, compared to the 50% to 55% that Shelby County (Memphis) is likely to cast.

As a local official, longtime conservative sparkplug Taylor is fond of saying, "I'm the only candidate in this race with a 100% record of fighting newer taxes and higher taxes"-a not-so-veiled reference to Blackburn's co-sponsorship of a real estate transfer tax in the state senate and his own credentials as the most high-profile opponent of attempts to raise local taxes. He was in the forefront of the fight against raising taxes to build an NBA arena in Memphis.

Taylor also got some recent booster shots with endorsements from Gary Bauer's Campaign for Working Families, and the international and local branches of the Firefighters Association. Earlier, the Memphis man had won the strong backing of Gun Owners of America.

There are three other substantive Republican candidates: former Shelby County Republican Chairman David Kustoff, who ran the Bush-Cheney statewide two years ago that denied Al Gore the electoral votes of his home state; high-powered Nashville lawyer and 25-year U.S. Army veteran Forrest Shoaf, the lone veteran in the race, and State Sen. Mark Norris of Collierville, whose campaign has been hampered because he cast several votes for tax increases. Of these, Shoaf-who has made a strong impression in recent debates and has put $370,000 of his own money into the race-appears the most formidable.

Complicating the race is the Senate primary between Bryant and Alexander and the question of whether favorite son Bryant can generate a larger-than-usual turnout throughout his rambling district for the rare Thursday balloting. In contrast to most states in the South, Tennessee does not have a run-off if the top vote-Better fails to garner a majority of the ballots cast.

Mr. Gizzi political editor of HUMAN EVENTS, welcomes political intelligence from subscribers on campaigns and issues at the local and state level. Though he cannot reply to all correspondents, we appreciate your contributions.

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Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 22, 2002
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