Incumbent Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, faces Democratic challenger Jesse Huseth in the Tennessee House District 97 race in November 2024. (Gillespie photo: John Partipilo; Huseth photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)
Candidates for a contested Tennessee House seat in Memphis are neck and neck in TV advertisement spending as Election Day approaches.
Two-term incumbent Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, faces Democrat Jesse Huseth, a business owner and former educator in the race to represent District 97, spanning Cordova and East Memphis.
Democrats — including a national fundraising committee — have rallied behind Huseth as he attempts to flip the seat. Gillespie has tallied donations from Republican House leaders and received independent support from the Tennessee Legislative Campaign Committee, a political action committee funded by Republicans.
Huseth entered the final stretch of the campaign with a lead of roughly $24,000 on Gillespie, according to campaign finance disclosures submitted in mid-October.
Gillespie reported receiving about $69,200 in contributions during the third-quarter campaign finance disclosure period. He spent $51,721, leaving him with around $96,000 on hand as of Oct. 16.
Huseth reported raising nearly $89,400 in the third quarter and spending about $54,500 as of Oct. 10, leaving him with almost $120,500 in his war chest leading into the campaign’s final days.
Huseth spent $33,435 on TV advertising spots with Fox 13 Memphis, News Channel 3 and Comcast, Federal Communications Commission records show. Gillespie’s spending with the same stations is close behind at $32,035.
Gillespie’s campaign has focused on “tough on crime” positions, touting his legislative record of supporting laws that enact harsher punishments for certain crimes. Huseth is pushing for more funding for public schools, a new crime lab to reduce DNA test backlogs in Shelby County and safe storage measures for firearm owners to cut back on the number of stolen guns involved in crime.