ADAMS, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Red River Republican Women hosted several candidates for Congress, District 7, at their annual Wine Tasting fundraiser Friday night.
The theme of the night was “Golden Age of America” and a plethora of wines and hors d’oeuvres were offered to guests. A total of eight Republican candidates attended the event and spoke about why they are running for Congress. The Ruby Cora event center was packed with Republicans eager to hear what the candidates had to say.
“About a year ago, we were almost a nation mourning. But today, we have a nation in celebration,” said Cathy Kolb, president of the Red River Republican Women’s Club.
Rep. Mark Green, a Republican who has represented U.S. House District 7 since 2019, 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.
‘It’s about service’
The first candidate to speak was Stewart Parks, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. “I like to consider myself a true Trump candidate, because I was personally pardoned by Donald Trump,” said Parks.
In his short speech, Parks explained that he wants to lower taxes for Tennesseans and make living cheaper. “I care about the economy, I want you all to live in a economic environment with low taxes,” said Parks.
Candidate Matt Van Epps, a West Point graduate and Army veteran, said he believes in patriotism, bringing the country together and quashing “woke” ideology. He claimed to be an “America first conservative.”
“I think effective representation is about being present, being here, being in the district and understanding what the issues are so that you can take those issues back. We can work together as a team,” said Van Epps.
State House Rep. Jody Barrett, who was raised in Dickon County and started a law practice there, won Conservative Legislator of the Year. He claimed it was a honor to represent his hometown.
“They come up and have needs and things that I’m able to help them with, because I think that all of us that are candidates in this race will tell you that it’s about service. It’s about serving the people, serving the constituents, serving the districts, being able to provide their needs and solve their problems,” said Barrett.
Paying off national debt
State Rep. Gino Bulso made his announcement for the campaign on Monday. He said he believes that the older generation needs to set the younger generation up for success by lessening the national debt.
“We have eight grandchildren under the age of 7. It is immoral to leave the next generation of Americans with a $37 trillion national debt, which requires $1 trillion in payments of interest every year,” said Bulso.
Bulso mentioned that Tennessee has a rich tradition of paying off debt, citing President Andrew Jackson paying off the national debt in 1836. He said we need to stop electing politicians that bribe people with their own money, and we need to set term limits in Congress to prevent abuse of power.
Next was Joe Leurs, a Marine Corps veteran and former Nashville Metro Police officer specializing in gang crime. “I physically saw the cancer that comes into our community through human trafficking and narcotics trafficking,” said Leurs.
Leurs’ approach to his candidacy is to help to eliminate the national debt, specifically for the hope of the future generation. “When I’m dead and gone, my daughter, my grandkids, are gonna have to pick up the pieces, so we need to fix it now. And I think President Trump is doing that, and the inevitable is going to happen in three years. … But I ask you the question: Who makes the laws? And the answer is Congress. That’s where we need to focus everything,” said Leurs.
‘Not a show pony’
State House Rep. Lee Reeves said he immediately hit the ground running as soon as he was in the Legislature. In his time so far, he has worked to pass seven bills and became the Freshman Legislator of the Year in Tennessee.
“I am a workhorse and not a show pony. So we got seven bills across the finish line and passed into law this past year. … I worked with my great friend (Rep.) Aron Maberry (of Clarksville) to pass some great legislation,” said Reeves.
Reeves is running for Congress because he believes that they need someone to work harder than ever to push the current values of government. “I do think we need somebody up in Washington, D.C., who is going to put their head down and work every day to get the agenda that our great President Donald Trump has done before the midterms. And that’s what I’m going to do,” said Reeves.
John Wilt, who served 2o years in the U.S. Army, said he wants to bring job opportunities back to Tennessee and to be the man that has the courage to do things, even when they’re hard.
“We’ve got 11 million unwanted houseguests that need to leave our country. If they can’t afford their bills, they need to leave. … I’m also going to help investing in jobs and the economy here in Tennessee,” said Wilt.
Wilt is running for Congress to fight for America’s freedom and to improve things for the next generation. “Now it’s our turn, my turn to fight, so we can hand this wonderful country over to our kids,” said Wilt.
Tres Wittum brought up the Epstein files scandal and said Trump brought transparency on other hidden files, and he will be transparent with the Epstein files as well. “They’ve got to understand sometimes the president has information that we are not privy to, and there could be multiple presidents and people on this list, maybe not in a malicious way, but maybe there is blackmail going on,” said Wittum.
Wittum said the country needs a group of people in Congress who will not quit when times get hard. He said our government is taking a test of character that he is confident on passing. He ran for U.S. Senate last summer and is running for Congress now.
“So we can go to talk about all the things, but we’ve got to acknowledge the fact that we got real problems in this country. So who are you going to send to Washington to solve them?” said Wittum.
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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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