Justice Democrat member Odessa Kelly has announced her bid in the Democrat primary for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) is the incumbent.
Kelly had been previously running in the 5th Congressional District primary against retiring Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05), who dropped out of the race due to redistricting.
Prior to redistricting, Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight gave TN-5 a partisan rating of D+17. It now gives it a R+15 rating. The 7th Congressional District, where Kelly now campaigns, was rated R+42. It is now rated R+21.
A community organizer by trade, Kelly is openly gay and is a proponent of the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.
Kelly’s website says, “Growing up as a gay Black woman meant growing up without seeing myself or people like me represented in many of the spaces I occupied. Decades later, we are still fighting to be received as our full selves. Congress must pass the Equality Act, which creates a federal standard to prohibit discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in housing, employment, government, healthcare, and more.”
Also, Kelly’s website shows her anti-Second Amendment gun policy.
“Congress should pass an assault weapons ban prohibiting the future production, sale, and importation of military-style assault weapons,” Kelly’s website states. “We should require individuals already in possession of assault weapons to register them under the National Firearms Act and individuals who fail to register or return their assault weapon should face penalties.”
FEC records show that Kelly has raised over $500,000 and has just over $162,000 in the bank. As of this writing, Kelly appears to be the only Democrat to have filed FEC paperwork in the race for the 7th District. Carlton Boley Jack of Nashville is listed as collecting petitions.
Incumbent Green has raised $929,266.47 and has $458,736.70 cash on hand according to the FEC.
Green has represented TN-7 since 2019. Green won election after Senator Marsha Blackburn elected to run for the U.S. Senate. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives he served in the Tennessee state Senate from 2013 to 2018, representing the 22nd district.
Green is also a doctor and a retired U.S. Army major. He served tours of duty in the War in Afghanistan and Iraq War. As of the moment, there appears to be no candidate running against Green in the Republican primary.
The primaries are scheduled for August 4.
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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.
