Democrat State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) filed papers with the Federal Election Commission establishing her as a candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Democrat political consultant Chip Forrester is her campaign treasurer.
Campbell, the former mayor of Oak Hill in Davidson County, was first elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 2020, defeating then-incumbent Republican State Senator Steve Dickerson.
Her website says, “I was elected in November of 2020 to represent District 20 in the Tennessee State Senate. Since that time, I’ve been an outspoken advocate for science, the LGBTQ community, public education, local control, women’s and kids’ issues, Medicaid expansion, and the environment.”
Campbell joins a very crowded field, with a total of 22 individuals currently listed by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office as collecting petitions for 5th Congressional District. Campbell will bring that tally to 23 when she is listed.
There are four other Democrats in the race. Clay Faircloth, Richard H. Harris, Justicia Rizzo, and Joel Michael Hurbert, all from Nashville, are collecting qualifying petitions. Campbell is the first prominent Democrat to enter the race, and experts consider her to be the frontrunner to attain the Democrat nomination.
Meanwhile, fourteen Republicans and four independents are collecting qualifying petitions for the TN-5 race.
On the Republican side, carpetbagger and D.C. insider Morgan Ortagus, former Speaker of the Tennessee House Beth Harwell of Nashville, businessman Baxter Lee of Nashville, Robby Starbuck of Franklin (listed as Robert Starbuck Newsom), Geni Batchelor of Lebanon, Natisha Brooks of Nashville, Timothy Bruce Lee of Nashville, Annabelle Lee of Madison, Alan Clement Sharp of Nashville, David Vitalli of Brentwood, Stewart Parks of Nashville, Richie Lee of Nashville, General Kurt Winstead of Franklin, and Tres Wittum of Nashville are collecting petitions.
The independents are Derrick Brantley of Nashville, Patrick O. Halfacre of Hohenwald, Daniel J. Cooper of Spring Hill, and Richard A. Shannon of Franklin.
Candidates have until April 7 to turn in the 25 qualifying petitions signatures.
Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight gives TN-5 a partisan rating of R+15. Prior to redistricting the 5th Congressional was rated D+17. The Cook Political Report gives the race a Solid Republican rating.
Given the partisan makeup of the new district, in a year that many project to be a wave year for Republicans, it is unknown how effective Campbell’s fundraising apparatus will be.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Heidi Campbell” by Heidi Campbell.Â
Haha. Good luck commie
Please spend all dem money here for a certain loss
Hell no. Another Commie? I don’t think so?..
Another radical liberal!
Pray that her fundraising is very effective indeed. I just love leftists pouring money into supporting a Democratic candidate running in an R+15 district in what should be a very strong Republican year. Don’t be stingy leftists. Support your favorite Democrat candidate in District 5.
please not another Democrat…….especially not this one.