Black hits Lee for giving to pro-choice candidate, but her husband did same

U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s latest attack ad on Republican gubernatorial rival Bill Lee criticizes him for giving a $1,750 to three Democrats: Phil Bredesen, Karl Dean, and former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, whom the ad labels an abortion supporter. Unmentioned is that Black’s husband, David, once gave $2,000 to a self-described pro-choice candidate.

David Black gave two $1,000 donations to former state Sen. Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville), who played a key role in then-Sen. Ron Ramsey’s 2007 election as the the state’s first Republican Senate speaker since Reconstruction.

Kurita was later rewarded with the position of speaker pro tempore, the ceremonial No. 2 position in the chamber. But Democrats later stripped her of her 19-vote Democratic primary win, declaring the vote “incurably uncertain” because of heavy Republican crossover voting and allegations that poll workers directed her opponent’s supporters to vote in the wrong primary.

“I believe women are capable of making their own healthcare choices,” Kurita said about abortion rights during an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid in 2006. “We don’t need an intrusive government or grand-standing politicians telling us what is best for our families.”

Kurita mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign and lost federal court challenges challenging her ouster.