House District 13 race tests axiom of all politics being local

All politics is local? We shall see. The race for state House District 13 shapes up as a test of the old axiom attributed most often to former Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House Tip O’Neill. Incumbent Republican Eddie Smith faces off again with Democrat Gloria Johnson.

Johnson won the seat in 2012 in a three-way contest by 238 votes over Republican activist Gary Loe. Nick Cazana was in that race, too, taking 1,084 votes. Heavy turnout in that presidential election year led to 20,832 votes cast.

In their 2014 off-year match-up, Smith won by 182 votes. Only 13,278 voted that year. Johnson hopes a higher turnout with a heated presidential contest will bring out more Democrats. Smith has hitched his wagon to Gov. Bill Haslam, who recently cut a TV ad for Smith.

Johnson, a former teacher, draws support from the usual Democratic suspects. Her website says, “Gloria doesn't have billionaires funding special interest groups to support her because she is NOT for sale.” Yet Johnson received funding in the third quarter of this year from Washington, D.C.-based unions  such as the Communications Workers of America and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Locally, the Knox Building Trades and the Plumbers and Steamfitters unions donated to Johnson, as did the Tennessee Education Association’s political action committee. Former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and Carol Andrews, former spokeswoman for Harold Ford Jr., funded Johnson as well.

Smith’s support was just as predictable, with AT&T PAC, the housing industry, Spectra Energy and the National Federation of Independent Businesses in addition to Tennessee Realtors contributing. Several state-level elected officials  such as Rep. Bill Dunn donated to Smith, as did Johnson’s 2012 opponent, Cazana.

Though Johnson had almost six times as much money on hand at this point in the cycle in 2014, Smith leads the money race by $102,000 to $73,000 this time. Money matters, but the big question is whether national candidates will drive enough voters to the polls to make a difference in District 13.

Johnson proudly points to her work for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, which might help her in Memphis or Nashville. In Knoxville? We’ll see. Though Obama showed gains in popularity in a recent Middle Tennessee State University poll, his meager 42 percent approval rating trails Haslam’s 58 percent approval. Affiliation advantage goes to Smith.

Interestingly, the much-maligned Tennessee General Assembly gets a 52 percent approval rating, with only 27 percent disapproving. Smith is part of the GOP supermajority in the Legislature, and unless the anti-Trump vote and Clinton caucus turn out huge in November, Smith benefits again.

Johnson is a garden-variety Democrat running in a heavily Republican area against an opponent endorsed by Tennessee’s most popular pol and his pals in a Legislature that has presided over nationally noted education reform and job growth while keeping the state pension one of the best funded in the nation and state debt under control.

The national knuckleheads may influence this race some, but results matter. All politics should be local.

Greg Johnson’s columns appear on Fridays and the second Sunday of each month. Follow him on Twitter @jgregjohnson. Visit his Greg Johnson Opinions Page on Facebook. Email him at jgregjohnson@hotmail.com.