A Democratic super PAC has jumped into the Tennessee 4th Congressional District race with an ad slamming Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais over revelations that he once had sex with a patient and encouraged her to seek an abortion.
The House Majority PAC is spending $100,000 in the campaign and it is the first evidence that Democrats see Jasper’s DesJarlais, who has campaigned as being anti-abortion, as being vulnerable in his contest with Democrat Eric Stewart.
The group’s ad, “Trust,” begins airing this evening. “Trust and faith,” it says. “As a doctor, Scott DesJarlais earned his patients’ trust.” The ad then cuts to extensive news coverage of the abortion controversy.
DesJarlais has acknowledged he slept with the woman, whom he says he treated briefly for an ankle injury. He said he was trying to get the woman, whom he had last seen four months earlier, to admit she wasn’t pregnant.
The National Republican Congressional Campaign's deputy communications director, Andrea Bozek, said in a statement that "Democrats are making a risky bet trying to defend Democrat Eric Stewart who called ObamaCare's cuts to Medicare and tax hikes 'great.' "
Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...
