House District 75 Democratic candidate Allie Phillips collects signatures for her ballot petition from neighbors Paula Lyles, right, Danielle Davis, center, and Theron Lyles. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Tennessee doesn’t have an abortion referendum on the ballot this year, but the state House race in District 75, which encompasses the city of Clarksville, may yield the clearest indication yet of how much the issue sways Tennessee voters.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Burkhart, a former city councilmember and small business owner first elected to state office in 2022, faces political newcomer Allie Phillips, a former day care operator.
Phillips, 29, drew national attention after speaking publicly about obtaining an out-of-state abortion after a wanted pregnancy last year became nonviable at 19 weeks, placing her health at risk. Her posts on TikTok about the experience earned millions of views, national headlines and caught the attention of Democratic Party leadership in Tennessee.
Phillips said her first priority, if elected, is enacting “Miley’s Law,” the name she and her husband planned to give the baby they lost. The measure would carve out an exception for fetal anomalies to the state’s ban.
Turning pain into purpose: Tennessee House candidate talks to voters about her abortion
Phillips has since joined two other women and two physicians in a legal challenge to Tennessee’s strict abortion law, which includes narrow exceptions for ectopic and molar pregnancies, and miscarriage care, but not for rape and incest.
The law also includes an exception for abortions to “prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” for physicians using “reasonable medical judgment,” a provision medical experts have said is so vague that it leaves doctors vulnerable to prosecution. A decision in that case is expected imminently, a topic she declined to discuss while the court process plays out.
“Will Republicans in this district just continue to vote down a party line, or will they look at the issues we’re running on, like abortion, and vote out of party? That’s the big question in this race,” Phillips said in an interview with the Lookout. Phillips also advocates for Medicaid expansion and eliminating Tennessee’s high grocery tax — two long-standing Democratic issues that have failed to gain any traction in Tennessee’s GOP supermajority-dominated legislature.
“I do think there’s been a change and a shift here on abortion. My story is unique to me, but it’s not rare. And when people hear my story, they hear relatability,” she said.
Burkhart, 62, has focused his campaign messaging on fiscal conservatism, while also advocating for deeper investments in infrastructure, school security and law enforcement. He also pledged to work to increase the Tennessee National Guard presence at the southern border.
His campaign website makes no mention of his position on abortion.
Burkhart previously endorsed Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban. Earlier this year, Burkhart cosponsored legislation making it a crime to transport a minor to another state to receive an abortion without parental consent.
The law is temporarily blocked pending the outcome of a lawsuit in federal court.
Tennessee House Democrats slam mail piece in Clarksville district
Democrats set their sights on Clarksville
Clarksville is likely to play a pivotal role for Democrats in the 2024 election, influencing where the party challenges Republicans two years from now.
One of few Democrats outside of Memphis and Nashville is state Rep. Ronnie Glynn, whose seat covers most of the Clarksville proper and the eastern half of Montgomery County. Glynn won his first term in 2022, like Burkhart, by 153 votes in the general election. This cycle Glynn is challenged by Republican Jamie Pelz.
For the U.S. House, Clarksville Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green faces a challenge from former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, a Democrat.
That congressional district encompasses Clarksville, the northwestern part of Nashville and nearly a dozen Middle Tennessee counties. Part of Barry’s campaign strategy has been to campaign hard in Clarksville on abortion rights.
Both parties see Clarksville and Montgomery County, as it’s become a more suburban area for those who can’t afford to live in Nashville, as a future community that could be in play.
Barry and Phillips aren’t expected to win but have raised enough money to run competitive races, and a close election could serve as bellwether for investment from the party in the future.
Another factor in the Burkhart-Phillips race is that District 75, which covers the western half of Montgomery County, is more rural and has long had one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation.
In one sign of Tennessee Republican Party’s investment in the race, a direct mail piece sent to residents featured photos of Phillips’ 7-year-old daughter attending a drag show. The piece, paid for by the state Republican Party, questioned her fitness as a mother. Republican Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison of Cosby previously told the Lookout that independent consultants were responsible for it.
The area is home to Fort Campbell military base and a college town — transient populations that play a role in the district’s lack of voter participation.
It has also seen few competitive races between the parties in the past, another factor in lower turnout. A Democrat hasn’t run for the seat since 2018.
Burkhart received 981 votes in the Republican primary to win and ran unopposed in a general election where 7,300 votes were cast. By comparison, each state House district is home to around 70,000 people, and over 11,000 voted in Glynn’s 2022 race in the neighboring district.
According to third quarter campaign finance reports filed this month, Phillips has outraised Burkhart $65,586 to Burkart’s $50,675 in the preceding three months. Phillips’ contributions are largely from small-dollar individual donors versus industry political action committees donating $1,000 or more to Burkhart.