Bowling, Davis win 4th District primaries
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With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Davis, a veteran legislator from Pall Mall, had 37,942 votes, or 56 percent while Fran Marcum, a former aerospace company owner from Tullahoma, had 29,815 votes, or 44 percent.
In the Republican primary, Bowling had 17,714 votes, or 38 percent, compared to 11,974, or 25 percent, for Mike Greene, former state safety commissioner.
Davis engaged in a bitter battle with Marcum, but he predicted a ‘coming together of Democrats’ for the Nov. 5 general election.
Davis, who has twice lost congressional primaries, told dozens of supporters at a Crossville hotel that he was confident of reclaiming the seat that Democrats lost for the first time in 1994.
‘We outpolled the Republicans better than 2-to-1,’ Davis said. ‘Come November, we will outpoll them in the general election better than that.’
Davis said ‘no Republican is going to out gun me, out pray me or out family me in this race.’
Marcum, who watched returns at her Tullahoma campaign headquarters across the street from Bowling’s headquarters, said she would support Davis.
‘I think all good Democrats stick together,’ she said.
Bowling, who spent no money on television advertising, took a surprising lead over Greene, who was considered the GOP favorite.
The rural, 24-county district seat became open with the departure of Republican Van Hilleary, who won the GOP nomination for governor Thursday. The district stretches from Kentucky to Alabama.
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Bowling, a former Hilleary field representative, was endorsed by the Republican National Coalition for Life, a group seeking to restrict or ban abortion.
Davis received the endorsement of former vice president Al Gore, abortion opponents and the National Rifle Association, while Marcum was endorsed by Emily’s List, a Washington group that helps elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates.
Kim Rubey, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has said the 4th District is among about a dozen U.S. House seats the party has in its sights.
‘We’ll be watching the race very closely and ensure a Democratic candidate reclaims the seat,’ she said.
The Nov. 5 election will determine control of the U.S. House, where Republicans hold a seven-seat advantage.
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the GOP feels confident it will keep the seat, which the party first won in 1994 with Hilleary.
The GOP winner, coming off a quiet, low-budget campaign, will start the general election campaign against an already bloodied Democratic nominee.
While Greene’s campaign bought very little television and Bowling’s bought none, Marcum and Davis each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV attacks aimed at each other.
Marcum’s ads accused Davis as a legislator of causing the state’s budget mess. Davis’s ads tried to link Marcum to alleged corporate greed at taxpayer expense in her former company’s contracts with the government.
As the favorite of Democratic insiders, Davis received much of his campaign money from Washington.
In the week before the primary, Marcum complained to state prosecutors and federal election officials that Davis’ campaign was possibly breaking laws by using voters’ names in letters without their permission. But prosecutors said no laws were broken and federal officials said they would not investigate before the primary.
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On the Net:
Janice Bowling: www.bowlingforcongress.org
Lincoln Davis: www.lincolndavis.com
Mike Greene: www.mikegreeneforcongress.com
Fran Marcum: www.franmarcum.com