From Bill Freeman

Republicans are in a lather to take the redesigned 5th Congressional District, which hasn’t been in the party’s hands since Horace Harrison was redistricted into the 6th District almost 150 years ago. And it is not a pretty sight.

The race is drawing widespread attention, particularly because of former President Donald Trump’s meddlesome interference, and has been described by national news outlets as “roiling Tennessee Republicans” and having triggered a “Tennessee MAGA carpetbagger fight.” Perhaps the most experienced candidate in the GOP field is former state House Speaker Beth Harwell, but neither Sen. Marsha Blackburn nor Gov. Bill Lee has stepped up to support her. Instead they sidestep showing their support.

We should have expected endorsements, or quiet support at the least. What have we gotten? Crickets.

While the race already has a bucketful of candidates, none has been as polarizing as Trump’s propped-up candidate Ortagus, a Tennessean for just about exactly the amount of time it takes to walk into the elections office for her filing paperwork. Famously unable to even name Nashville’s interstates — the ones running through the city she wants to represent in Washington — Ortagus stands in stark contrast to Harwell, who served this county and the state for two decades in the Tennessee General Assembly. (It’s worth noting that as this issue is going to press, the legislature is considering a bill to make very new Tennessee residents ineligible to enter congressional primaries.)

Both Blackburn and Lee claim to have Tennesseans’ best interests at heart. Political experts say Lee in particular won his office because he refrained from playing politics during a primary campaign fraught with mudslinging. Remember that GOP primary? Lee won it by framing himself as the “good guy” — the one who aimed to do the right thing. 

But now that he is in office, our governor is playing politics, as is our senior U.S. senator. They avoid every opportunity to endorse Harwell or express any form of support. Blackburn has abandoned her independence and pledged her fealty to Trump. She recently hosted Ortagus on her political podcast, which is cutely titled Freedom Rings With Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn and Ortagus were in attendance at Trump’s recent shindig at Mar-a-Lago — the Take Back Congress Candidate Forum, where guests shelled out $250,000 to attend as VIPs. So it would seem Blackburn is throwing her support to the person perhaps least capable of representing our district.

Blackburn’s lack of support for Harwell is especially odd, considering that the two have so much in common. They served in Tennessee’s General Assembly together. They’re both conservative politicians who’ve called Tennessee home since early adulthood. They’ve both earned places in the history books — Harwell as the first female state speaker of the House, and Blackburn as the first female Tennessean elected to Congress. You’d think Blackburn’s endorsement of Harwell would be a no-brainer, wouldn’t you? Nope. Trump’s vengeance is apparently more feared than the bonds of shared political experience, political party and adopted hometowns. 

It isn’t out of the ordinary for candidates to receive public endorsements from sitting and former officials during a campaign. Quite the opposite, in fact. Lee received an official endorsement from then-Gov. Bill Haslam. Marsha Blackburn received the support of former Gov. Don Sundquist during her 2018 Senate campaign. 

The deafening silence from Lee and Blackburn in this regard may be due to a number of factors, not the least of which is their hesitancy to draw the wrath of our former president. Trump’s involvement in state politics is becoming a political joke in many circles, and his attempts to strong-arm candidates and elected officials are beginning to go sideways. A biting Washington Post column recently described Trump as a “stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve” over his faltering attempts to meddle in multiple midterm elections. Tennessee has made national headlines due to our dissatisfaction with Trump’s attempts to shove Ortagus down our throats. The same can be said for his attempts in Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and other states.

Another potential explanation for Lee’s silence could be that recent polling shows his popularity slipping. Vanderbilt University political science professor John Geer says Vanderbilt’s polling project recently showed Lee doesn’t have the same bipartisan support that Haslam enjoyed during his time in office. “We now see Gov. Lee with a very polarized set of opinions on him as governor,” says Geer. “And that’s a big, big change.” 

Blackburn and Lee are fearful for their own political interests and fearful of the wrath of our former president. Regardless, as our political leaders, they should have been more forthright and supported Harwell in this race. There is still time for them to step up. 

The primary is in its early stages, and there are lots of GOP candidates in the race. That does complicate the endorsement equation for sitting officials, even when you don’t have an unhinged former president breathing down your neck. But both Blackburn and Lee have long touted their promises to “do the right thing” and to “protect Tennesseans’ interests.” I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect them to actually do it. Do you? 

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.