Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Democrat Victoria Broderick’s narrow victory over incumbent U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) could offer Democrats a campaign template moving forward.
During an appearance Thursday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed how Broderick, whose unofficial election results show she defeated DesJarlais by approximately 230 votes, managed to win a district the Republican had represented since 2010.
“How did this woman get elected? Who is she? Where did she come out of, and what is she doing? It’s a very interesting story that I think the Democrats are going to learn from and try to make into their template going forward,” Pappert said.
Pappert said Broderick largely avoided more recent messaging from the political Left and instead centered her campaign on abortion and the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Her campaigning was almost entirely focused on abortion, Roe v.Wade, the last issue that the Democrats really had that galvanized them,” Pappert said, adding that Democrats performed well against Republicans when campaigning on the issue in 2022.
He also pointed to Broderick’s decision to begin campaigning almost immediately after losing to DesJarlais by 43 percentage points in 2024.
“She immediately filed, and claims that she’s been knocking on doors, interfacing with voters, and doing things the old-fashioned way,” Pappert said.
Pappert further noted Broderick said she received little support from the Democratic National Committee, while suggesting population growth in Rutherford County may have contributed to the district’s changing political makeup.
He also questioned whether DesJarlais and other Republican candidates adequately adjusted their campaigns to reach voters through newer media platforms.
“People are getting their information from a myriad of different sources that can’t even be numbered,” Pappert said. “There are as many different news outlets now as there are TikTok and Instagram Reels influencers.”
Pappert argued that candidates who relied heavily on traditional television advertising may have missed opportunities to connect with voters through digital media, interviews, and in-person campaigning.
“Those candidates that didn’t pursue every available opportunity, be that digital, in person, or traditional terrestrial broadcasting, those who didn’t go down every rabbit hole left too much on the table for Democrats,” he said, adding that the changing ways Americans consume news and political information require campaigns to reconsider how they reach potential voters.
Pappert ultimately agreed with Leahy’s assessment that Broderick’s grassroots, door-to-door campaign and sustained effort ultimately contributed to her victory, while DesJarlais failed to match that level of campaigning.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Victoria Broderick” by Victoria Broderick.
