Like it never happened? Sethi scrubs social media accounts

Following his disappointing showing in the Republican nomination contest for the U.S. Senate, former candidate Manny Sethi’s campaign has taken the unusual step of scrubbing his social media accounts from the internet.

Gone are Sethi’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, though some of his ads are still to be enjoyed on his YouTube page.

Sethi, a Vanderbilt surgeon, gained gained 39% of the vote in the Aug. 6 primary, compared with 51% for winner Bill Hagerty, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan. Sethi had sought to characterize Hagerty as being the establishment candidate while he represented the GOP grassroots.

Sethi’s message resonated in some areas of the state (he gained his biggest advantages in Rutherford, Knox, Coffee, Williamson, and Maury counties). But Hagerty blew Sethi out of the water in Shelby County by more than 12,700 votes — enough to negate the 9,429 margin Sethi pulled out over Hagerty in all 12 counties he won.

In all, Hagerty won 83 of 95 counties, including 29 in which the margin was more than 1,000 votes.

In contrast to Sethi’s social media disappearing act, former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen, who lost a bruising race to U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood) in 2018, has kept his Twitter account. It still touts his highest profile endorsement of the race: that of pop superstar Taylor Swift.