NASHVILLE – Saying it sees an opportunity for an upset, the National Republican Campaign Committee has jumped into Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District campaign with an independent expenditure blasting U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn.
The ad takes the Pall Mall Democrat to task over his campaign’s recent attack ad against Republican Scott DesJarlais of Jasper.
The Davis ad used 10-year-old allegations by DesJarlais’ former wife in their divorce case that her husband pulled the trigger on an unloaded gun outside her locked bedroom door and once held a gun in his mouth for three hours.
“How desperate would you have to be to attack someone’s family?” the National Republican Campaign Committee ad says. “That’s what Lincoln Davis is doing. He’s desperate to distract the public from seeing his votes since Obama became president.”
NRCC spokesman Andy Sere said the campaign committee believes it can tip the race to the Republicans.
“We got into this race because every poll we’ve seen indicates that Scott DesJarlais can win, and we want to press our advantage,” said “The congressman’s support for Obama’s failed stimulus and bloated budget undermined his job performance numbers, and the nasty personal attacks he’s launched now have Tennesseans questioning his very integrity.”
The size of the ad buy could not be confirmed. It was not immediately clear whether the ad is airing in Chattanooga, which borders the sprawling 24-county district.
The NRCC also has jumped into Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District. The group spent nearly $636,000 for research, television ad production and air time to attack Democrat Roy Herron in his contest with Republican Stephen Fincher, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog group.
Tonight, Davis is scheduled to be in Chattanooga for the annual Estes Kefauver dinner. Before that, Democratic donors are holding a separate fundraiser for Davis featuring U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.