State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), the Republican nominee for Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, joined Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show where he discussed his business background, experience in elected office, views on crime and the challenges facing Tennessee, while also explaining why he believes he can enter Washington without succumbing to the temptations of D.C.
Taylor, who built and later sold a funeral services business to private equity, has previously detailed that journey in an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy. During the July interview, Taylor recounted how he went from working in the funeral industry to taking out a $60,000 home equity loan in 2004 to launch Brentwood Funeral Services, which he eventually expanded into a business encompassing funeral homes, cemeteries, a mortuary service, flower shop, monument company, and insurance company before selling it roughly five years ago.
Taylor has repeatedly pointed to that private-sector experience as preparation for Congress, particularly his firsthand understanding of making payroll, managing employees, and operating a business with his own assets at risk. In the earlier interview, he recalled writing himself a $10 payroll check because he had used the money available to pay his employees, and said the experience taught him what it was like to “sign both sides of a paycheck.”
In Friday’s interview, Taylor again pointed to that experience as part of what he believes distinguishes him as a congressional candidate.
“I took out a home equity loan, a $60,000 home equity loan. I took out all the equity in my house. My wife thought I’d lost my mind,” Taylor said. “I started my business back in 2004. Grew it and sold it to private equity about five years ago.”
Taylor said the experience of building a company and creating jobs gave him firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by small-business owners.
“I know what it’s like to sign both sides of a paycheck. I know what it’s like to lay awake at night wondering, do I have enough money in my payroll account to make payroll the next day?” he said.
Taylor has served on the Memphis City Council, Shelby County Commission, Shelby County Election Commission, and in the Tennessee Senate. He said his time in elected office has reinforced his belief that politicians should not make holding office their identity.
“The way you ensure that you don’t reach that shelf life is I’ve done what I think most elected officials ought to do. If you get elected, serve a period of time and leave,” Taylor said. “My identity is not wrapped up in being an elected official.”
Taylor also discussed his concerns about crime, pointing to reductions he attributed to recent efforts in Memphis, such as his “Make Memphis Matter” campaign, which he said caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who went on to form the Memphis Safe Task Force.
“It’s amazing. They’ve cut crime in half. The murder rate is down 40 percent. Burglaries are down 60 percent. They’ve rescued 150 kids. They’ve made about 12,000-13,000 arrests,” Taylor said.
He said he wants to bring his focus on crime to Nashville if elected to Congress.
“That’s really one of the things that I want to do in Congress, is because Nashville’s crime problem is really just about as bad as Memphis’ crime problem was,” Taylor said. “What happens is the crime doesn’t stay in Davidson County. It spreads right down I-65, right into Williamson County, into Marshall County, Rutherford, Maury County, and just like it was in Memphis.
Taylor also discussed the possibility of facing new temptations in Washington, particularly the financial opportunities available to members of Congress.
“There are different temptations there. I think one is financial,” Taylor said. “You see a lot of people get elected to Congress that get up there and they have access to a lot of people who have a lot of money.”
However, Taylor said his financial position after selling his business means there is little that could be offered to him financially that he does not already have.
“There is nothing that anybody on the financial side can offer me that I probably don’t already have because I was very blessed with my business,” he said.
Taylor added that maintaining moral and family ties will also be important if he goes to Washington.
“You have to be tethered to some moral grounding,” Taylor said. “And my faith plays a part in that. My family plays a part in that. And having an open dialogue—communication—with your spouse to ensure that they know everything that’s going on in your life, whether you’re in D.C. or not.”
“People have been able to see me operate over the course of a couple of decades in and out of office, and I think that’s a pretty good way to look at a candidate and see will they succumb to temptations in D.C. And I’ve always taken the approach that any time I begin to feel tempted, it’s time to leave. Fortunately I’ve never felt that temptation, but I’ve also probably left before those temptations were there,” he added.
During Friday’s interview, Taylor contrasted his policy positions with those of his Democratic opponent, State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), particularly on inflation, energy, and regulations.
Taylor criticized Pearson’s support for a $25/hour minimum wage, arguing that businesses could respond by reducing their workforce or otherwise adjusting labor costs. He also criticized Pearson’s proposal for government grants to businesses to help them meet the proposed wage requirement.
Taylor said his approach to lowering costs would instead focus on reducing government spending, increasing domestic energy production and cutting regulations.
“What I want to do to help bring the cost of living down is, look, we need to end wasteful Washington spending,” Taylor said.
He pointed to his work in the Tennessee General Assembly, saying legislation he supported ultimately led to the identification of $120 million in what he characterized as waste, fraud, and abuse involving Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
“I supported that. I’ve led the effort. My opponent voted against it, so clearly he is not for eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,” Taylor said.
He also called for increased domestic energy production and criticized Pearson over his opposition to the proposed Byhalia Connection pipeline in West Tennessee.
Taylor said the project would have connected oil supplies in Oklahoma with the Valero refinery in Memphis before moving the product to the Gulf Coast. He argued that transporting oil by tanker trucks and trains instead of through a pipeline has increased costs.
“We need to unleash American energy. We don’t need to be dependent on the OPECers over in in the Middle East for our oil…My opponent, Comrade Pearson gained notoriety by stopping the Byhalia Pipeline down in West Tennessee…And as a result, the refinery now has to pay more for their oil because they have to put it on tanker trucks and trains to get it to the refinery, rather than rely on the pipeline. If that pipeline had gone through, gas prices would still be high, but they wouldn’t be as high as they are now because of the increased cost.”
Taylor also pointed to the Tennessee Regulatory Freedom Act, which he co-sponsored, as an example of his efforts to reduce regulations affecting businesses and family farms.
“We have to cut this regulation that is on our small businesses and family farms. I co-sponsored the Tennessee Regulatory Freedom Act. My opponent voted against it. So you can see at every opportunity where the legislature acted where they could reduce prices and keep inflation down, my opponent has voted against that, where I have led on that effort,” he said.
Asked how he would work in Congress as a freshman lawmaker, particularly if Republicans do not hold a majority, Taylor pointed to his previous experience working in governments where Democrats held the majority.
“When I was on the city council and the county commission, I was in the minority. Democrats dominated the city council and the county commission,” Taylor said. “I was a very effective local lawmaker, and I was able to navigate and work across the aisle to get things done for my constituents.”
Taylor said that experience would be important if he is elected to Congress.
“I was a very effective local lawmaker, and I was able to navigate and work across the aisle to get things done for my constituents,” Taylor said.
He contrasted that approach with Pearson’s record in the Tennessee House, referencing Pearson’s disruptions of legislative proceedings and his 2023 expulsion from the House alongside State Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville).
“You take a look at Democrat socialist Justin Pearson, when he got elected to the state house four years ago, look at his track record. He comes with a bullhorn and disrupts house proceedings, having to be physically restrained against a state representative because they had a disagreement,” Taylor said. “That’s not how you get things done for the district.”
“Comrade Pearson has been endorsed by AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, the whole list of merry band of misfits in the Democratic Party. And if he were to get elected, he would join that squad type and would create chaos. That is what he’s done in the State House. He’s been expelled from the State House…because of his chaotic actions,” he added.
Early voting for the November 3 general election begins Wednesday, October 14, and runs through Thursday, October 29. The voter registration deadline is Monday, October 5.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
