CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Four candidates for Congress, District 7, shared their platforms with the Clarksville Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, each promoting himself as a Trump ally and reliable conservative Republican.
There are 19 candidates in the race. Those invited and attending were Jody Barrett, Gino Bulso, Lee Reeves and Matt Van Epps. Jason Knight was also invited but was not present.
They are running to replace Rep. Mark Green, a Republican who has represented U.S. House District 7 since 2019, who resigned July 20 to go back into the private sector. The special primary election to replace him will be Oct. 7, with the general election Dec. 2.
Jody Barrett: Taking a stand for voters
State House Rep. Barrett told the Kiwanis group that with 11 Republican candidates in the race, the question is how to separate them. He urged looking at the records, particularly the voting records of the three GOP candidates who are state House members.
Barrett said he is the most conservative member of the state Legislature and the most conservative candidate in the race, citing rankings from the Tennessee Legislative Report Card and the John Birch Society.
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He also spent some time defending part of this record: His minority vote against Tennessee school vouchers. He said his district – which includes Hickman, Lewis and part of Dickson Counties – “hated school vouchers,” so he took a stand to vote against them.
He said that same strength of convictions is what’s needed in Congress.
“Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face. And in this battlefield, it’s not bullets coming from the enemy – it’s friendly fire that’s coming from your own people. It’s coming from threats from your leadership, the executive branch, big PAC money that’s coming down against you and attacking you. And when that happens, are you going to stand up and be with your people? Or are you going to fold and vote the way the threats are pushing you to vote?”
Gino Bulso: Importance of families to nation
State Rep. Bulso pointed to the need to address the national debt and the tax burden.
He said families are the backbone of our communities and of our nation. “One of the worst things the federal government does to our families is it takes too much of their hard-earned money.
“Somehow, we have normalized the idea that it’s all right for the government to take 30%, 35% or 40% of your earnings, send them to a vast bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., and then waste it so much that we end up with ($1.5 trillion) to $2 trillion deficits every year, to the point that we now are handing on to our children and grandchildren a national debt to $37 trillion.”
The interest on the debt alone has reached $1 trillion this year.
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Bulso said that in the late 1990s, Congress moved toward solving the problem with bipartisan entitlement reform, but those efforts were derailed by the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bulso said we should pick up where we left off and work toward reforms to create a balanced budget.
Lee Reeves: Effective leadership needed quickly
State Rep. Reeves said now is the time for effective House members who can get Trump’s agenda implemented quickly – in time for people to see the benefits of the “one big beautiful bill” before the midterm elections in November 2026.
“We have a very short amount of time to get President Trump’s agenda across the finish line.” Reeves said that when the provisions of the bill begin to be felt by Americans, the risk of a typical midterm election shift will be diminished. “I think that they will feel what our president has done and actually vote more Republicans in to do more of it,” Reeves said,
“It’s going to take someone who can work with others, who has a track record of getting things done.” Reeves said he’s the candidate who can best do that.
Matt Van Epps: Debt is ‘national security issue’
Van Epps focused part of his comments on Middle Tennessee’s infrastructure needs, saying we need to get a third lane of Interstate 24 from Exit 11 to Exit 40 in Nashville. “We need to do that for the growth of our community,” he said. Van Epps also supports extending the 840 loop and providing better broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
He spoke of the national debt as a “national security issue,” and of the particular concern about how much of our debt is owned by China. “We have got to get to a balanced budget,” he said. “We’ve got to focus to get that done.”
Among possible solutions are operational improvements to Social Security, and approving recissions bills. All of it will take hard work, he said. “It wasn’t created overnight and it won’t be solved overnight.”
It’s important to continue to root out fraud, waste and abuse. Van Epps said, adding that DOGE was a start, but we need an annual DOGE to get things back in order.
Who’s running for Congress, District 7
Here are the 19 candidates for Congress, District 7, as of Aug. 13, the day after the qualifying deadline. The state has not yet updated the list following the Aug. 15 withdrawal deadline.
Republicans:
- Jody Barrett: Dickson small-business owner and state House member.
- Gino Bulso: A Brentwood trial lawyer and state House member.
- Stuart Cooper: Franklin, with Flagler Technologies.
- Adolph Agbéko Dagan: Clarksville veteran, minister and small business owner.
- Mason Foley: Franklin, former staff member for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. Now with Main Street Health.
- Jason Knight: Montgomery County commissioner and former Clarksville City Council member, small-business owner and military veteran.
- Joe Leurs: Retired from Marines and Metro Nashville Police Department.
- Stewart Parks: Nashville real estate agent.
- Lee Reeves: Franklin state House member.
- Matt Van Epps: Nashville former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, military veteran.
- Tres Wittum: Former Tennessee Senate staff member.
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Democrats:
- Aftyn Behn: Nashville social worker and state House member.
- Darden Copeland: Nashville businessman.
- Vincent Dixie: Nashville businessman and state House member.
- Bo Mitchell: Bellevue state House member.
| MORE: Democratic candidates for Congress make pitch at Blue South BBQ | PHOTOS
Independent:
- Teresa “Terri” Christi
- Bobby Dodge: Franklin
- Robert James Sutherby
- Jon Thorp: Springfield military veteran.
U.S. House District 7 covers the western portion of Middle Tennessee, spanning from the Kentucky state line to the Alabama state line. It includes Montgomery County and portions of Nashville/Davidson County and Williamson County.
Early voting dates and registration deadlines
To vote in the Oct. 7 primary, voters must register by Sept. 8. Early voting will be Sept. 17-Oct. 2.
For the Dec. 2 general election, voters must register by Nov. 3. Early voting will be Nov. 12-26.
You can check your registration, update your information, or register to vote at GoVoteTN.gov or by using the free GoVoteTNApp.
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