The Tennessee Democrat who received the nomination to challenge Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in November blamed the state’s “white patriarchy” last year after the General Assembly did not pass gun control legislation during a special session in the wake of the March 27, 2023, attack on the Covenant School.
Maryam Abolfazli, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, wrote in an August 2023 article published by Tennessee Lookout that the “white patriarchy” was responsible for the failure of gun control legislation to materialize during the special session called by Governor Bill Lee in the wake the Covenant School attack.
“This week, the Tennessee General Assembly gave me a lesson on the white patriarchy,” wrote Abolfazli after the session concluded with no gun control legislation proposed.
The Democrat wrote that lawmakers expressed the white patriarchy as they ignored her “silent and present plea for gun safety” and demands to “[p]lease save my child.”
Abolfazli additionally claimed to witness a female protestor be removed from the General Assembly for carrying a paper sign with a pro-gun control message despite the ban on such materials.
The Democrat wrote the sign represented the woman’s break “from the white patriarchy that wanted her to shush.”
Abolfazli continued writing about patriarchy throughout her article, later describing the process of “[f]ighting this patriarchy.”
She wrote, “Fighting this patriarchy isn’t binary or a one-time thing. It is a process, but the compass remains the same, listening to the truth inside. It is different for everyone, depending on one’s relative privilege in our society.”
Once an individual is committed to fighting the patriarchy, Abolfazli (pictured above) seemed to suggest, “They know that many policies disproportionately harm communities of color and individuals of different genders and on and on.”
Abolfazli was among the plaintiffs behind the lawsuit to block the ban on paper signs in the House gallery and lobby at the General Assembly.
Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District was won by Democrats from 1940 until 2022 when Ogles became the first Republican candidate to win the district after it was redrawn to include more than Davidson County.
Ogles trounced his opponent in Tennessee’s Republican primary, winning by about 13 percentage points and carrying every county in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District except Davidson County, which is the location of Nashville and one of just three counties in the state won by President Joe Biden in 2020.
However, just one day after Ogles won the primary, the FBI executed a search warrant at his Maury County home to obtain his personal cell phone. Ogles told The Star in a statement that the FBI action was related to campaign finance issues, which were addressed with his amended filings to the Federal Election Commission.
Former President Donald Trump noted Ogles’ status as the Republican who flipped the county when endorsing the incumbent last year.
“I was proud to help Andy flip a Democrat seat in 2022, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement for re-election,” wrote Trump.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Maryam Abolfazli” by Maryam Abolfazli. Photo “Andy Ogles” by Andy Ogles.
