The majority of voters in Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District haven’t thought about what happens to spent nuclear fuels, don’t know what quantum computing is and aren’t aware the Chattanooga National Cemetery is running out of space.
But U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, is on top of all of that, and much more, in his seventh term in the House, and deserves re-election because of his work on such issues.
His Democratic opponent, retired banker Jack Allen, is the most conservative and outgoing general-election opponent the incumbent has faced, and Allen’s support of reducing the national debt, balancing the budget and his statement that government doesn’t have all the answers will appeal to some voters.
But Fleischmann is no slouch on that area either, having won his first several terms railing against out-of-control spending. He calls the country’s debt today, now more than $35 trillion, “a real concern.”
Though the congressman spends most of his political capital on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, he also has foreign policy concerns — different from those of former President Donald Trump, whom he supports for a second term — about the war in Ukraine.
“I’ve consistently voted to fund it,” he told the Times Free Press editorial board. “I don’t think we can let [Russia President Vladimir] Putin win.”
Speaking of funds, Fleischmann also secured a $236 million earmark — now called directed spending — to finish the new lock at the Chickamauga Dam. It was the largest nonanonymous earmark in the 2024 budget, earning him Citizens Against Government Waste’s May 2024 Porker of the Month award, but most 3rd District voters understand the needed construction of the new lock preceded Fleischmann’s term and how crucial the lock is to industrial river traffic.
And if his concentration on the important work done at Oak Ridge on super computers, environmental cleanup and “fusion” aren’t sexy issues, they’re nevertheless important to the 3rd District and the country’s future energy needs.
Allen, who lost his wife to ovarian cancer a decade ago, understandably puts an emphasis on women’s health issues and would support a congressional bill granting a national right to abortion.
With respect to the Democrat, who more closely speaks the language of voters than the party’s previous sacrificial candidates, we endorse Fleischmann, who seems to be fully in his element dealing with many of the district’s varied and complicated issues.