Democrat candidate for the 7th Congressional District of Tennessee Odessa Kelly tweeted early Tuesday morning: “When elected to Congress, legalizing marijuana will be one of my top priorities fa sho!”
When elected to Congress, legalizing marijuana will be one of my top priorities fa sho! 💯😮💨💨👌🏾 https://t.co/inLQlQ2Gmi
— Odessa Kelly (@OdessaKellyTN) April 18, 2022
Kelly’s tweet was a reply to a tweet by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.
Silver said, “It’s legitimately perplexing that Democrats don’t take action on an issue that polls this well. Maybe a reflection of the fact that support for marijuana legalization varies by age and party leaders are mostly old boomers.”
Kelly is running against Republican incumbent U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07). Both are effectively the nominees of their respective parties due to no other candidate filing qualifying petitions paperwork in either primary.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that Kelly is openly gay, a community organizer, 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.”
Additionally, Kelly’s website demonstrates 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,” it says. “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,” says the website. “We need to mandate universal background checks for private gun sales at gun shows and online, raise the minimum age to buy a firearm to at least 18 years old, and close the boyfriend loophole to protect survivors of domestic abuse. I support a federal licensing system for the purchase of any type of firearm or ammunition, establishing a one-week waiting period for all firearms purchases to discourage impulsive gun violence and reduce gun suicides.”
Kelly was previously running for the 5th Congressional District, challenging outgoing U.S. Representative Jim Cooper in the Democrat primary. After the new district lines were approved, Kelly switched to running in TN-7.
For the FEC first-quarter January 1 – March 31 finance reporting period, Kelly raised $83,867.77 and spent $113,379.22. She has $134,062.59 cash on hand.
The Republican incumbent, Green, raised $137,298.72 and has $493,938.65 on hand to spend for the race.
According to FiveThirtyEight, the district has a partisan rating of R+21. The Cook Political Report gives the race a “Solid Republican” rating.
– – –
Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Odessa Kelly” by Odessa Kelly for Congress. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
