In 2012, Tennessee Republican Representative Scott DesJarlais was exposed as having had extramarrital affairs, having slept with his medical patients, and having supported his ex-wife’s decision to get two abortions before their marriage, despite his staunch public pro-life stance. Roughly one month later, he won re-election to Congress. It seems he may go on to do so again: DesJarlais officially won his Republican primary contest on Monday.
From the Washington Post:
Days after certified election results showed DesJarlais narrowly outpaced state Sen. Jim Tracy by 38 votes in a closely-watched primary in the 4th district, Tracy conceded Monday, citing a desire to avoid a lengthy legal battle without a clear path to erasing his margin, even as he maintained that he saw potential problems with the vote.
…Tracy’s concession ends more than two weeks of drama that started after the race was too close to call the morning after the Aug. 7 primary. It also marks a remarkable political comeback for DesJarlais, who has been weighed down by personal scandal.
DesJarlais will go into his race with the Democratic nominee, a retired accountant named Lenda Sherrell, as the favorite in a heaviliy conservative district. Mitt Romney won 65.3 percent of the vote in the Tennessee’s fourth district in the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama’s 33.1 percent.
