Republicans Attack Heidi Campbell With Ad Demonizing Gideon's Army

The Senate Republican caucus is spending loads of money to back up state Sen. Steve Dickerson in his race against Democratic challenger Heidi Campbell in Nashville's Senate District 20. The district has been covered with mail pieces aimed at Campbell, but the latest attack is more notable because of who it attacks along with her. 

A video ad released yesterday by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally's political action committee charges Campbell with "siding with the extremists" because she's had nice things to say about the North Nashville-based community organization Gideon's Army. Specifically, she called them "wonderful." The ad highlights the group's support for defunding the police and seeks to tie them to the looting and rioting that followed the police killing of George Floyd earlier this year. In the faux-concerned tone of so many political ads, a woman narrating frames the group as "these radicals." 

Fair enough, perhaps. Gideon's Army has taken a radical approach toward peacemaking in North Nashville, sending out Violence Interrupters to de-escalate potentially violent situations and prevent retaliations. It is an organization founded in response to the deaths of too many Black children from gun violence. After a tornado devastated North Nashville on March 3, Gideon's Army's response was swift and effective precisely because of its deep roots in the community. The group organized a massive relief effort, coordinating with other community organizations to assist North Nashvillians and help them fight against predatory investors and developers looking to profit off of the destruction. Radical indeed. 

Of course, there is no avoiding the fact that Gideon's Army's views on policing are dramatically different than those of some Republicans living in Senate District 20. It is true that the group has supported calls to defund the police and called for alternatives to policing and incarceration. But to smear those efforts — which have come at the cost of blood, sweat, tears and many years — as the work of some sort of violent insurgency plainly echoes the racist dog whistles of Donald Trump. If McNally and his caucus want a reference on the work of Gideon's Army, they could check in with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, which has partnered with the organization through its 2Gen Grant program. 

Dickerson told the Scene's Stephen Elliott yesterday that he wasn't very familiar with Gideon's Army and wouldn't comment on the ad.

"I believe I am legally and morally bound to not encourage nor discourage outside expenditures," Dickerson said of McNally's PAC. "They are independent by their nature. If I called up somebody and said, 'Hey, I'd love for you to do this,' or, 'Hey I'd hate for you to do that,' I believe that is breaking the spirit and the letter of what I am bound by. I have not commented on anything, I will never say anything negative about my opponent. And I try to color within the lines."

However, there does not appear to be anything stopping Dickerson from commenting on, or denouncing, an ad that is already out in public, and his critics have said he's copping out by citing the law to avoid being at odds with his GOP colleagues. 

On Monday, Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro called the ad "vile garbage" and said Dickerson "should be embarrassed to be the beneficiary." 

Dickerson posted an ad of his own on Twitter today offering people the chance to "vote for the person, not the party."