NASHVILLE -- With political forecasters predicting Republicans will take control of the U.S. House from Democrats in Tuesday's elections, incumbent Congressman Chuck Fleischmann of Southeast Tennessee and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Northwest Georgia are viewed as sure-fire bets to return to Capitol Hill with new clout and influence when the 118th Congress convenes in January.
Representing two adjoining districts divided by a state line, Fleischmann and Greene have pursued two different paths in their drive to power while also diverging significantly in terms of political style and strategy.
Fleischmann, 60, an Ooltewah lawyer first elected in 2010 to represent Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, serves on the currently Democratic-controlled House Appropriations Committee. He is the top Republican member of the panel's Homeland Security Subcommittee. Fleischmann has taken a traditional, often under-the-radar and nose-to-the-grindstone approach as he has advanced.
If Republicans win House control as expected, he hopes to become chairman of either the Appropriations' Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over north-district U.S. Department of Energy facilities such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory or the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee.
"From a very parochial and self-serving sense, I will be a subcommittee chairman on Appropriations. That will not only help the 3rd District, it will help the entire state," Fleischmann said in a Chattanooga Times Free Press interview, noting that it's also possible the full committee chairman and other Republicans may decide he would remain as chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
Greene, a 46-year-old businesswoman from Rome, devotee of former President Donald Trump and self-described Christian nationalist, was first elected to represent Georgia's 14th Congressional District in 2020. Her fiery style and promotion of various conspiracy theories both before running for office and since have put her in the national limelight as she often fuels controversy and draws criticism while winning followers and adoration from fans.
If current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., replaces Democrat Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as speaker, he is expected to put Greene on committees. Democrats and 11 Republicans in February 2021 stripped the first-term congresswoman of her committee assignments following an uproar over her past activity on social media, some of it indicating support for violence against Democrats even prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
Prior to her first election, according to CNN, Greene in a video accused Pelosi of being a "traitor to our country, she's guilty of treason" over illegal immigration, also adding "it's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason."
Greene's office last week did not respond to a Times Free Press request for an interview and for a list of her priorities and committee preferences in the new Congress. Greene faces Democrat Marcus Flowers, a retired military veteran, in Tuesday's election. Both have raised millions of dollars this cycle. The district strongly leans Republican.
Both FiveThirtyEight and the Cook Political Report report their analysis of polls show a strong likelihood Greene will win. They also say the same about Fleischmann, who faces Democrat Meg Gorman on Tuesday.
Greene told The New York Times Magazine in a recent profile that she and the former president had already discussed the possibility of her becoming his running mate in 2024.
"I would be honored," Greene said, although acknowledging that the Republican National Committee and other GOP leaders would likely urge Trump to think twice about a candidate as divisive as herself.
"I think the last person that the R.N.C. or the national party wants is me as his running mate," she told the magazine.
As far as her committee assignments, Greene cited the House Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee as her preferences in the magazine's interview. Both panels are seen as playing a large role in any investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden's administration.
Asked if that was a fairly big request -- both panels are sought by members of GOP's most conservative group, the Freedom Caucus in which Greene is a member -- the congresswoman said, "I completely deserve it. I've been treated like [expletive]. I have been treated like garbage."
Greene advocated for impeaching Biden before he was even sworn in as president. She filed articles of impeachment alleging Biden, who was former President Barack Obama's vice president, abused his authority to help his son Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine. Her effort went nowhere in the Democratic-run House.
She isn't giving up, according to a recent fundraising email reported by The New York Times.
"Joe Biden is guilty of committing high crimes and misdemeanors," it said. "And it's time for Congress to IMPEACH, CONVICT and REMOVE Biden from office."
Earlier this year, a group of voters sought to knock Greene off Georgia's ballot for, they said, her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol where Trump supporters stormed the building in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to stop Congress from certifying Biden's 2020 victory over Trump.
An administrative law judge ruled against them and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger later decided Greene was qualified to run for re-election, rejecting arguments from the group of voters who had challenged her eligibility over allegations that she engaged in insurrection under a Civil War era law.
On Thursday, Greene was in Iowa at a Trump rally where she criticized the Biden administration's support for Ukraine as the nation fights to fend off Russia.
"The only border they care about is Ukraine, not America's southern border. Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine," she said as the crowd cheered in a video. "Our country comes first."
Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia and veteran observer of Peach State politics, said in a phone interview that Greene has managed to "become a favorite of President Trump, and she's also getting face time with Kevin McCarthy.
"This is surmise, but my guess is that McCarthy doesn't want to see a repeat of what happened when (then-Republican House Speaker) John Boehner stepped down. McCarthy at that point was also majority leader, but because of rebellion among the Freedom Caucus folks and his own Republican Caucus, he was not able to move up to speaker.
"My guess is that what he's hoping is that by getting support from Marjorie Taylor Greene that that would put down any potential rebellion by the more conservative of his wing of the party," Bullock said.
If things indeed work out that way, Bullock added, that would give Greene "a great deal of power and influence" with appointments to committees she wishes to serve on.
Projections by FiveThirtyEight, the Cook Political Report as well as CBS News and YouGov's Battleground Tracker show Republicans are in strong position to win the House.
Bridge builder
FiveThirtyEight and Cook Political Report also show Fleischmann is expected to win a second time against Gorman.
Fleischmann noted he serves on a number of bipartisan Appropriations Committee-related caucuses with Republican and Democratic members and chairs several of the caucuses.
"I try to be a bridge builder, a unity maker and, candidly, I really appreciate the caucuses in Congress because it truly is bipartisan," Fleischmann said, noting there are any number of bipartisan issues lawmakers address in areas ranging from continuing to clean up nuclear waste sites at federal installations such as Oak Ridge. Among panels he chairs is the spent nuclear fuels caucus.
"It's amazing," he said. "If you put out something that is rational, logical, well-intentioned, you never know who you're going to attract to the table. I try to do that, and you'd be surprised who shows up. ... I think by virtue of being an appropriator, it puts us in a position where by necessity you want to work with people."
While Greene is a member of the Freedom Caucus, Fleischmann is among members of the Republican Study Committee, which he describes as a center-right group. The third GOP caucus is the Tuesday Group, which has more moderate GOP members.
"I'm in that, I would call commonsense conservative group," Fleischmann said.
He said he has a "very good cordial relationship" with Greene as well as other Freedom Caucus members U.S. Reps. Scott DesJarlais, R-Sherwood, and Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville.
Fleischmann said he hopes Senate Republicans also take back the upper chamber, now led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., which is evenly split 50/50 but is under Democrats' operational control with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris able to break tie votes in favor of Democrats.
He added the chamber would have turned Republican in 2020 had not Georgia Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue lost respectively to Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock is now in a battle with Republican nominee and former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker.
"What it also means, particularly if you have the House and the Senate, we will stop the extremes of this administration," Fleischmann said, noting Biden would have to work with Republicans. "It's literally been a nightmare, not only to serve watching Schumer, Pelosi and Biden work their politics and their policies, but I really think in my heart of hearts, it has hurt the country in so many ways."
Not giving up
Fleischmann's challenger, Gorman, said by phone Friday as she campaigned in Morgan County that "polls are not votes." While they can provide "helpful guidance," she said, "they are not always indicative of how things play out."
Gorman also said there has been too much focus on divisions that are hurting 3rd Congressional District residents and congressional members should put those aside "for the people we serve."
"Everybody in public office should be willing to work to find common ground, and that's something I know how to do," she said.
Gorman said she has policy differences with Fleischmann and his votes in a number of areas. Among those she cited was his opposition to a bill pushed by House Democrats this year seeking to protect women's reproductive rights after the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
She also has concerns with what Republicans may seek to do if they gain majorities in areas ranging from seeking to impeach Biden to federal restrictions on contraception, access to legal abortions and paring back Social Security and Medicare.
In a debate last week with Greene, Georgia Democrat Flowers criticized Greene as having supported those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
He said in a statement to the Times Free Press Friday, "We are working on only one thing in this campaign, and that's making sure the citizens of Georgia's 14th District have actual representation in Washington. It is about stability versus chaos and serving the American people instead of their own political goals that won't improve anyone's lives.
"Investigating Hunter Biden won't build the new post office we need in Cohutta. Shutting down the government won't solve inflation. I hope Americans understand the stakes and choose honor, decency, and integrity instead."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.