Planned Parenthood endorses Mackler in U.S. Senate race
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed Democrat James Mackler in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race.
“People across Tennessee want their elected officials to stand up to the Trump administration’s attacks that put our health, rights, and freedoms at risk,” Francie Hunt, the executive director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, said in a release. “James Mackler has been steadfast in his support for abortion rights and making the full range of women’s health services available to all.”
Diana Onyejiaka of Nashville and Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis have also announced they will seek the Democratic nomination in the race.
Leading Republican candidates Bill Hagerty and Manny Sethi are staunch opponents of abortion rights.
Mackler blasts GOP opponents for Blackburn tweet
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Mackler is criticizing his Republican opponents for being “clones” of Republican Marsha Blackburn, who was elected to the chamber last year. Mackler, a former Army helicopter pilot, took aim at comments Blackburn made about Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified in the congressional impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Blackburn has said she stands by a tweet that stated: “Vindictive Vindman in the ‘whistleblower’s’ handler.” Republican candidates Bill Hagerty and Manny Sethi have defended the president and condemned the House probe.
#MoscowMarsha isnt on the ballot in ’20 but my opponents for the open #TNSEN seat will be her clone. I’m a combat veteran & running b/c TN needs a senator to stand up for what’s right & stand up to any president when they’re wrong. Join the team today >> https://t.co/REGFUU2rCp pic.twitter.com/omwxqPvxkr
— James Mackler (@James_Mackler) November 23, 2019
Mackler closed his law practice after the Sept. 11 terror attacks to join the Army. He spent three years as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for the 101st Airborne Division, which included a deployment to Iraq. He later served as a military prosecutor for the Judge Advocate General Corps.
Another Dem joins the U.S. Senate race
A third Democrat has joined the U.S. Senate race. The Nashville Post’s Stephen Elliott reports Diana Onyejiaka, a Nashville consultant and professor, has filed federal paperwork to join the race to succeed retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Maryville).
Nashville attorney James Mackler, who stepped aside from the open 2018 race to make way for former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen, joined the 2020 race in January. He’s raised close to $900,000 and spent $611,000 on that effort so far. Memphis environmentalist Marquita Bradshaw announced she was joining the race last month.
Another Democrat is running for U.S. Senate: Diana Onyejiaka, a Nashville-based consultant and professor, filed campaign paperwork with the FEC on Monday https://t.co/VudpgU6Y0k pic.twitter.com/zSdOpfWrjD
— Nashville Post Politics (@NPostPolitics) October 22, 2019
Elliott reports Onyejiaka’s firm, DC Consult, helped organize this year’s U.S.-Africa Business Opportunities and Exchange Conference at Tennessee State University this year. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants has taught law and government courses as an adjunct professor at TSU and Middle Tennessee State University.
“I felt like there was a need to have somebody like myself representing the state of Tennessee,” she told the Post.
“A Democrat can win this race by speaking to the issues and not getting political,” Onyejiaka said. “I’m running as a public servant.”
Democrat Mackler to run for Senate in 2020
Democrat James Mackler, who was pushed out of the Senate race in December 2017 by former Gov. Phil Bredesen’s entry into the race, tells Jonathan Mattise of The Associated Press he plans to run the Senate again in 2020.
Mackler announces Dem bid for Tennessee's open Senate seat https://t.co/tT2qznwwh9
— Jonathan Mattise (@JonathanMattise) January 8, 2019
An announcement video suggests Mackler will run on an anti-Trump platform. “The 46-year-old says he’s not a politician and President Donald Trump is making life harder across Tennessee, citing health care, the tax law and the trade war,” according to the AP report.
Mackler is the first candidate to say he will run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Maryville). Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has said he will decide about whether to mount a bid in the coming months, while newly-elected U.S. Rep. Mark Greene (R-Ashland City) has also been telling donors about potential plans to run.
