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Update:DesJarlais Re-elected Despite Abortion Revelations

279 views · Published 7 November 2012 · 3:55 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2012 · News & Politics

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A Tennessee Republican congressman has won re-election, overcoming revelations that he had an affair with a patient and urged her to get an abortion.    Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Jasper physician before going to Congress, beat Democratic challenger Eric Stewart on Tuesday. With 76 percent of precincts reporting, DesJarlais had 111,988 votes, or 57 percent, compared with Stewart's 83,835 votes, or 43 percent.    DesJarlais, who opposes abortion rights, largely withdrew from public sight a month ago after the first news accounts based on his 2001 divorce emerged. His campaign used a heavy rotation of TV ads to link Stewart to President Barack Obama, an unpopular figure in the conservative 4th District.Rutherford County had issues in tallying its votes and DesJarlais was waiting on that process to complete before declaring victory. Late into the night he came to the Winchester headquarters and thanked his supporters, "I  certainly want to send out the warmest thank you to the people of the 4th District. I spent my last term in office trying to do what I promised the first time around and that was to repeal Obamacare, get control of the spending and the deficit and I look forward to continuing to do that assuming Rutherford County turns out the way we want it to."As the night moved into morning, the Rutherford County numbers moved decidedly in the incumbent's favor.    DesJarlais' win means that all nine members of the Tennessee congressional delegation were re-elected, as was Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker.Eric Stewart, DesJarlais's opponent issued this statement:"The voters have spoken. I'm proud of the campaign we ran. We talked about fighting for working families, keeping promises we made to our seniors about Medicare and Social Security, and giving our men and women in uniform the support they need and deserve. The fight for those things hasn't ended, even though my campaign for Congress has. Congress needs to stop fighting and start fixing. Working families depend on it."(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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