Scott DesJarlais

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Scott DesJarlais
Scott DesJarlais, Official Portrait, 112th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Lincoln Davis
Personal details
Born Scott Eugene DesJarlais
(1964-02-21) February 21, 1964 (age 49)
Des Moines, Iowa
Political party Republican
Residence Jasper, Tennessee
Alma mater University of South Dakota
Profession Physician
Religion Episcopalian
Website Official website

Scott Eugene DesJarlais[1] (pron.: /ˈdeɪʒɑːrleɪ/; born February 21, 1964)[2] is an American physician currently serving as U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 4th congressional district after winning re-election to a second term on November 6, 2012.[3] The district, the state's largest, stretches across a large and mostly rural swath of East and Middle Tennessee. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Contents

Early life, education, and medical career [edit]

DesJarlais was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Joe DesJarlais, a barber, and Sylvia, a registered nurse at Fort Meade Veterans' Hospital in South Dakota. He has undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of South Dakota and earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. He was originally from Sturgis, South Dakota, and moved to East Tennessee in 1993.[4] Today, DesJarlais practices medicine at Grand View Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee.[5]

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

Elections [edit]

2010
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010#District 4*

In 2009, DesJarlais--who had never run for elected office before--filed papers to challenge Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis,[6] as well as Independents Paul H. Curtis, James Gray, Richard S. Johnson, and Gerald York.[7] DesJarlais defeated Davis 57%-39%,[8] the third-largest defeat of a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle, and the first time that an incumbent had been unseated in the district since its creation in 1983. The margin of defeat was all the more remarkable because the 4th is an extremely difficult district in which to campaign. It stretches across portions of five television markets and two time zones, and campaign budgets often rival those of statewide campaigns.

2012
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2012#District 4

DesJarlais was challenged by Democratic nominee and state senator Eric Stewart. Prior to the 2012 election, the Fourth District was significantly altered as a result of redistricting. Notably, Murfreesboro, formerly the heart of the 6th District, was shifted into the 4th. The redrawn 4th contains about half of the constituents who resided in the former the 4th district, with 14 of 24 counties being moved elsewhere by redistricting.[9] For a time, it was thought that DesJarlais would face a primary challenge from state senator Bill Ketron, a Murfreesboro resident and the chairman of the state senate redistricting committee. However, Ketron decided that he wouldn't run.

During the election campaigns, events from DesJarlais' personal life became public, making the 2012 race against Stewart "one of the ugliest Tennessee congressional races in decades".[10] Stories that surfaced included the fact that during the divorce proceedings, DesJarlais' first wife Susan had alleged that her ex-husband engaged in "violent and threatening behavior".[11] Court filings revealed that he had at least four affairs.[12] One was with a female patient. According to the Huffington Post, tapes that DesJarlais himself recorded, show that he pressured her to have an abortion after she became pregnant.[13][14] A second woman came forward, stating that she began dating DesJarlais while she was his patient. She alleges that the two smoked marijuana together and he prescribed pain medications for her while at his house.[15]

In October 2012, the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington requested that the Tennessee Department of Health investigate evidence that DesJarlais had a sexual relationship with a patient, an allegation that could open the congressman to disciplinary action for potentially violating medical ethics.[16][17] In November 2012, the same group filed another complaint against DesJarlais with the Office of Congressional Ethics, claiming that the Congressman lied about a telephone conversation with a former patient and mistress.[18]

DesJarlais defeated Stewart 56%-44%[19][20] joining all the other incumbent members of Tennessee congressional delegation who also won their re-election bids.[3]

Committee assignments [edit]

Personal life [edit]

DesJarlais and his second wife, Amy, have three children. They live in Jasper, a suburb of Chattanooga. DesJarlais divorced his first wife, Susan, in 2001; they have one child.[21] Court documents from his divorce proceedings paint a lurid[citation needed] picture of a doctor who had multiple affairs with coworkers and patients -- at least one of whom he prescribed pain pills for -- while he was chief of staff at a local hospital. Also according to these transcripts, the anti-abortion, pro-family Tennessee congressman pushed his patient and mistress to get an abortion and agreed that his wife should have two.[22]

DesJarlais was nominated for and won the "Golden Duke 2012" award in 2012 by Talking Points Memo, in the "Best Scandal: Sex and General Carnality" category.[23]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Campaign contributions". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  2. ^ [1][dead link]
  3. ^ a b "DesJarlais Wins Second Term Despite Scandal". NewsChannel5.com (CBS). Nov 06, 2012 Updated: Nov 07, 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.  Text " Nashville" ignored (help)
  4. ^ Henry, Larry (Aug. 23, 2010). "Tight race forecast in 4th Congressional District". Chattanooga Times Free Press. 
  5. ^ "Scott DesJarlais for Congress — Tennessee 4th District: About Dr. Scott DesJarlais". Scottdesjarlais.com. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
  6. ^ [2][dead link]
  7. ^ "General Election State Candidates". Retrieved October 11, 2010. 
  8. ^ http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/tennessee
  9. ^ Collins, Michael (2012-10-26). "DesJarlais has to scramble with new district alignment » Knoxville News Sentinel". Knoxnews.com. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  10. ^ "Scott DesJarlais holds lead (with video)". Chattanooga Times Free Press. November 7th, 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.  Text " timesfreepress.com" ignored (help)
  11. ^ Woods, Jeff (September 16, 2010). "Papers from DesJarlais' Bitter Divorce Pop Up in Media". National Scene. 
  12. ^ Scott DesJarlais' Second Mistress: Another Woman Claims Affair With Tennessee Congressman, by Michael McAuliff, Huffington Post, 28 October 2012
  13. ^ McAuliff, Michael (October 10, 2012). "Scott DesJarlais, Pro-Life Republican Congressman And Doctor, Pressured Mistress Patient To Get Abortion". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012. 
  14. ^ "Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais pressed mistress to get an abortion, report says". washingtonpost.com. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  15. ^ "2nd Scott DesJarlais girlfriend talks". timesfreepress.com. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  16. ^ Sisk, Chas (Oct 16, 2012). "Rep. Scott DesJarlais faces ethics complaint over relationship". The Tennessean. Retrieved Oct 29, 2012. 
  17. ^ Viebeck, Elise (October 15, 2012). "Ethics complaint filed against DesJarlais". The Hill. Retrieved October 29, 2012. 
  18. ^ Barton, Paul C. (Nov 27, 2012). "Watchdog group files ethics complaint against Rep. Scott DesJarlais". The Tennessean. Retrieved Nov 29, 2012. 
  19. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=705219
  20. ^ "Tennessee election results". CNN. November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  21. ^ "Old Divorce File Riles Tennessee". Roll Call. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  22. ^ Michael McAuliff (2012-11-16). "Scott DesJarlais Approved Wife's Abortion, Slept With Coworkers, Patients, Court Records Say". Retrieved 2012-12-25. 
  23. ^ Joshua Marshall (2012-12). "The Winners Of The 2012 Golden Duke Awards!". Retrieved 2013-1-16. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Scott DesJarlais
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Lincoln Davis		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 4th congressional district
January 3, 2011 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Jeff Denham
R-California		 United States Representatives by seniority
287th		 Succeeded by
Sean Duffy
R-Wisconsin
Senators
Representatives
(ordered by district)
Other states'
delegations
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