Democrats make case for 3rd District seat
Headrick and Taylor make cases for their campaigns
Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District hasn't been represented by a Democrat since 1995, but two candidates speaking to supporters Thursday night said they are determined to change the trend.
Approximately 75 people gathered at the Hamilton County Democratic Party's quarterly executive committee meeting, held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Before introducing Mary Headrick and Bill Taylor, the only two Democrats to officially declare candidacies so far, Democratic Party Vice Chairman Rodney Strong offered his view on the upcoming race against Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and his Republican challengers.
To Strong, the race looks ripe for the taking.
"We've got 'Do Nothing Chuck,' 'Little Prince Wamp' and I hear maybe 'The Milkman,'" he said.
Along with the incumbent, Strong's comment was directed at candidates Weston Wamp, the 24-year-old son of former Rep. Zach Wamp, and Scottie Mayfield, a dairy mogul from Athens who announced Wednesday he was seriously considering joining the race.
There was no mention of Dr. Jean Howard-Hill or Ron Bhalla, the other two Republicans to declare candidacies in the race.
Speaking first was Headrick, a 63-year-old emergency room and acute care physician from Maynardville. For 11 minutes, Headrick made the case for her candidacy and expressed disapproval with both Fleischmann and Washington, D.C., in general.
"I'm Mary Headrick, and I'm here to unseat Chuck Fleischmann," she said, generating a response of cheers. "I do not support big government, I do not support small government, I support good government."
Headrick listed her grievances with the current state of government, including the inclusion of corporate money in campaigns and the pressure of Washington lobbyists on politicians fixated on securing their own re-election.
"There's something wrong with Washington. There's something wrong when 535 members of Congress can be so dysfunctional as to threaten the democracy they swore to serve," she said.
Wrapping up her speech, Headrick repeated her intent to unseat Fleischmann and accused him of voting solely in line with his party's leadership and Grover Norquist, an influential conservative lobbyist.
Taylor, who spoke second, offered a shorter speech and immediately criticized the Republican field. During his speech, Taylor said conservatives in Washington needed to come away from an "everything we want or nothing" attitude.
"I'm running for Congress because the incumbent, and all those who are opposing him in the GOP primary, are off in the weeds on the right," he said. "They are protecting their own interests and working for the interests of the 1 percenters."
Taylor, who recently attempted to raise $250,000 for his campaign in two weeks, also denigrated the fundraising abilities of his potential opponents, implying that Fleischmann, Wamp and Mayfield would rely on personal or family wealth to win a seat in Congress.
"I would rather have 10,000 people on the ground helping than $100,000 in the bank," Taylor said. "We will win this race because we are going to talk to our neighbors, talk to our friends and talk to everyone in this district about what they need and what they want."
Following their speeches, both Headrick and Taylor separately said they had not yet developed strategies and would wait to see how their fellow contenders would take positions on issues.
Both the Democratic and Republican primary elections for the 3rd Congressional District take place Aug. 2.
Updated @ 7:35 a.m. on 01/27/12 to fix a grammatical error.
