(The Center Square) – Four of the 11 candidates hoping to take the 7th Congressional District seat all claimed their goal was to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda if elected.
State Reps. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, and Lee Reeves, R-Franklin, participated in the debate along with Matt Van Epps, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services. The debate, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity’s Tennessee chapter, included only candidates who had raised $250,000.
The candidates were asked what issue they differed on with Trump.
“I wish he spent more time at West Point than Annapolis,” said Van Epps, a graduate of West Point.
“I think an area we need to continue to dive into is spending control,” he said. “Our national debt is a national security issue, that’s a real challenge.”
Bulso also gave a light-hearted answer at first, saying their difference is that Trump spends a lot of time on the golf course and he prefers to spend time on the tennis court.
“I think Trump is a generational leader, unlike we have ever seen before,” Bulso said. “I don’t disagree with President Trump on anything.”
Reeve also did not indicate any policy differences with Trump.
“We need someone who is going to fight and scratch to get his agenda done,” Reeves said. “I am the only candidate on this stage that has supported President Trump, fully, since 2016. And I will continue to do so in Washington, D.C.”
Barrett said he feels differently about Operation Warp Speed, a Trump-led initiative that expedited COVID-19 vaccines in 2020.
“I think it’s impossible to go around the 7th District or anywhere in Tennessee, really anywhere in the United States, and find many folks who now think Operation Warp Speed was a real success,” Barrett said. “It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback and look back, now upon facts and things we know about COVID and about the vaccines, but anytime the government the government is stepping in on top of your individual rights and executing policies that are putting all of us in danger – we have millions of Americans now who are vaccine injured, dealing with the results of this vaccine mandate.”
Three of the candidates said they supported the One Big Beautiful Bill Act but were concerned about increasing the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
“We are already passing on to our children and grandchildren a deficit that exceeds a number anyone on either side of the aisle would find to be reasonable,” Bulso said. “We’re spending $1 trillion a year in interest servicing that debt which is more than we spend on any federal program other than Social Security.”
Barrett said he was also concerned about the increase in the debt ceiling.
“That’s something that we’ve seen for many years,” Barrett said. “We’ve been operating outside of normal order for probably 30 years, since the last time we passed the budget, since the last time we balanced the budget. It’s a multi-pronged problem and we are not going to be able to grow our way out of it and we’re not going to be able to cut ours spending enough to get out of it. It’s going to take many, many things on both ends of that spectrum and changes in the way that we do business.”
Reeves called the debt ceiling increase “regretful.”
“We do know that we have to grow our way out as well as cut wasteful spending and get out of the things that the federal government should not be in,” Reeves said. “We know that both of those things are true.”
Van Epps said there were many things he liked in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including investing in nuclear power and getting rid of the Green New Deal.
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“I am pro-oil and natural gas and pro-nuclear,” Van Epps said. “Tennessee is leading in nuclear technology and that’s really exciting.”
The Republican primary is Oct. 7, and the general election is Dec. 2. Early voting in the primary begins Sept. 17. The district covers 14 counties in middle Tennessee.
