Former US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus appeared on local radio in Nashville earlier this week to participate in a quiz for local congressional candidates to showcase their knowledge of the district.
Problem was, Ms Ortagus didn’t appear to have any.
Asked on the programme to name the three interstate highways that run through the district, Ms Ortagus struck out. She didn’t know which country music star operates a popular winery in the district, nor did she know the famous NASCAR driver who has a car dealership there. She couldn’t name the four living Tennessee governors, and didn’t know that the town of Chapel Hill was in the district at all.
The former spokesperson for Donald Trump’s State Department is seeking to represent Tennessee’s fifth congressional district, which includes part of Nashville and portions of a number of surrounding suburban and rural counties.
Democrat Jim Cooper has represented the district in Congress since 2003, but decided not to run for re-election after Republicans gerrymandered Nashville in the state’s recent redistricting process to the point where it may not have a single Democratic representative despite the fact that 65 per cent of Davidson County voters supported Joe Biden for president in 2020.
Ms Ortagus does not live in the fifth district, nor did she live in Tennessee at all until she joined a Nashville health care firm after departing the State Department last year.
Mr Trump immediately endorsed Ms Ortagus after she announced her candidacy in February, drawing what Politico termed “serious backlash from die-hard loyalists.” Though Ms Ortagus served in the Trump administration, she has been criticised by his supporters for perceived sins ranging from her support of Jeb Bush in the 2016 Republican primary to Ruth Bader Ginsburg having officiated her wedding.
Ms Ortagus is running in a crowded field that includes businessmen Robby Starbuck and Baxter Lee.
