U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty on Tuesday released a television ad that called out rival candidate Manny Sethi for not favoring the conservative agenda.
This, according to a press release that Hagerty’s staff posted on his campaign website that quoted campaign spokeswoman Abigail Sigler. Hagerty’s campaign specifically called Sethi out for saying one thing and doing another, “depending on where he lives and what is politically expedient at the time.”
“Tennesseans cannot trust Massachusetts Manny Sethi, who has been out on the campaign trail masquerading as a conservative who supports President Trump when in reality he is the most liberal candidate in the race. Facts are facts. He didn’t donate a single dollar to Donald Trump’s campaign against Hillary Clinton and instead bankrolled Nancy Pelosi to help elect mob-rule radical Democrats to Congress,” Sigler said.
“Even worse, he promoted and defended Obamacare here in Tennessee. You can see for yourself in the uncovered footage. Tennesseans want their Senator to stand with President Trump and fight back against Nancy Pelosi and the bad policies implemented during the Obama-Biden Administration that Massachusetts Manny desperately wanted to be a part of. President Trump knows he can count on Bill Hagerty because they’ve worked together for years and Bill has proven to be a trusted ally since day one; it’s why the President endorsed Bill for Senate.”
Hagerty’s press release said Sethi, among other things, served on the board of the socialist Massachusetts Medical Society.
“He is a coastal elite fraud, and Tennesseans deserve to know the truth,” the press release said.
As The Tennessee Star reported Tuesday, Hagerty leads Sethi by 3 percentage points – 30 percent to 27 percent – although 32 percent of voters remain undecided, according to a new poll that an out-of-state firm released Monday.
John Couvillon of the Louisiana-based JMC Analytics and Polling published the results, which he said has a 4 percent margin of error.
Sethi and Hagerty want to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
JMC asked voters who they’d vote for if the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate were held today.
Exactly 30 percent of voters said they’d support Hagerty, while 27 percent would support Sethi. Another candidate, George Flinn, would get 3 percent of the vote, while 8 percent would support another candidate. And 32 percent of respondents remain undecided, according to the poll.
“In summary, Bill Hagerty has a lead in the primary race for the U.S. Senate, but it’s not a secure lead against Manny Sethi,” according to the JMC report.
According to the poll, Hagerty holds a narrow lead whether or not undecided leaners are included, although that lead is within the statistical margin of error.
“From a geographic standpoint, his [Hagerty’s] strongest area is in the western part of the state. Similarly, he runs strongest among ‘very conservative’ voters (40-31 percent/47- 36 percent if undecided ‘leaners’ are included),” JMC reported.
According to the poll’s crosstabs, Hagerty leads Sethi 31 percent to 16 percent in West Tennessee, and 30 percent to 27 percent in Middle Tennessee. Sethi leads Hagerty 30 percent to 29 percent in East Tennessee.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Manny Sethi” by Bill Hagerty.
