CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – On Feb. 14, Congressman Mark Green of Clarksville announced he would not seek re-election, saying, “Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair.” But a couple of weeks later, Green reversed course and said he will go back on the campaign trail, running for an office that, after redistricting, now includes a slice of Nashville.
Green recently spoke on the Clarksville Conversations podcast about that decision, saying a phone call from former President Donald Trump persuaded him to run again for Congress.
In explaining his initial decision not to run, Green, a Republican, told Clarksville Conversations that he’d accomplished what he set out to do in Congress, and along the way had recently gotten back into studying the Constitution. “It became very clear to me that our founders did not want lifetime, professional politicians – they wanted people who would come up here as citizen legislators and do some time and then go home.”
He said that after announcing his decision, he was quickly hit with thousands of texts and phone calls from people asking him to reconsider. Then he got calls from state legislators, from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, and from the one person who tipped the scales: Trump.
He said Trump told him, “Look, we need you in there. We’ve got to have you, so you’re running for re-election.”
“And I said ‘Yes sir, I’ll step back in the race.'” Green added jokingly, “My right arm was pinned behind my back and twisted pretty hard, and so I stepped back in.”
Green said he plans to do one more term, in part to ensure that another Republican candidate is prepared to come in behind him.
In the podcast, Green also discussed border issues, some recent new legislation he’s sponsoring and struggles with bipartisanship in Congress.
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