Jack Bailey will tell you he has “seen the sausage made” in Congress when he served as chief of staff for a Missouri congressman, and that is one of the reasons he is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge 4th District U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis of Pall Mall.
Bailey, 41, is a small businessman in Franklin, although he also has a law degree. He and his wife Nancy have six children, ranging in age from 5 to 14, and live in the Westhaven subdivision.
The 4th District stretches through 24 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, from Campbell county in East Tennessee down to Marion County in Southern Tennessee and across the Alabama/Georgia border to Lawrence County before hooking up and taking in part of Williamson County. While the geographical majority of Williamson County is represented by 7th District Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood, a large population of the county is included in the 4th District.
“You say diverse, I don’t think it is that diverse. Geographically it is huge, but the good news for me is we are taking 10 months and this is all we are doing,” said Bailey. “I am stepping away from my job for a while and I think (the election) is going to favor the energetic and the passionate and somebody who is willing to commit to it.
“In terms of values, …what I noticed in every single county, don’t know if you want to call it Tennessee values, common sense conservatism, I would call it both of those things, I noticed a remarkable similarity again from a farmer in Maury County to a small businessman in Campbell County.From one end to another, I noticed a remarkable continuity of values among Tennesseans,” Bailey said.
While Bailey has never met Davis, he said it is easy to say what he is running for and what he is running against.
“At the end of the day, we have 40 seats that have to change hands,” Bailey said of the need to shift power in the House of Representatives from Democratic to Republican control. “I don’t care how the sitting congressman wants to posture himself, as conservative, he is supporting a liberal agenda in Congress by his existence there.
“Forty seats have to change hands to take Nancy Pelosi out of power and I can tell you if you want a continuity in values around the 4th District in Tennessee, they hate San Francisco politics and they hate Chicago politics. The only way we are going to take the bullet out of the gun of President Obama and Congresswoman Pelosi is to take back the Congress,” Bailey said.
“I run against what he stands for, against his voting record and we are going to run against the biggest vote he cast, his vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker,” Bailey said. “It is a majoritarian institution, whoever has the majority sets the debate, sets the time of the debate and what amendments are going to be offered.
We are also running to say we can do better, not necessarily than Congressman Davis. It is more to say about Washington in general,” he said.
He said the district is the 77th most conservative of the 435 in the nation and while a Democrat has held the seat since the 2002 election, times have changed.
“The people of the 4th District need to know this — it is a Republican district. It is a conservative district,” Bailey said. “It is almost as conservative as Marsha (Blackburn’s district) and far more conservative than (Congressman John) Tanner’s district or (Congressman Bart) Gordon’s district.
McCain won this district by 30 points. Bush won this district twice. Our clarion call to this district is it a Republican district and it is time to take it back.
“I believe, I see it every day, people in this district are conservative and whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats … before Nancy Pelosi came on they were probably pretty happy with Lincoln Davis, but those days are over. I am here to say, we are going to take our district back,” he said.
Bailey isn’t the only one who wants to unseat Davis. Scott DesJarlais of Jasper is also seeking the nomination and both men have been actively raising money. Bailey said since entering the race in late December, he has raised more than $100,000 “competing against Santa Claus.”
