House District 49 Democratic candidate Luis Mata is taking on incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Sparks. (Mata photo by John Partipilo; Sparks photo from Tennessee General Assembly.)
For nearly three decades, Tennessee Republicans have pushed Democrats out of their rural and suburban strongholds, leaving the party cornered in the state’s biggest cities.
In 2024, Democrats hope to narrow their superminority in the state House, where they hold just 24 of 99 seats. This low point gives them a chance to reshape their message, as local candidates distance themselves from the national party, which struggles in Tennessee’s suburbs and rural areas.
In District 49, a state House seat that stretches across northern Rutherford County, covering Smyrna and La Vergne, Rep. Mike Sparks, a 57-year-old former car dealer and Republican, faces Luis Mata, a 28-year-old community organizer and Democrat.
The race hasn’t drawn attention from national Democrats. The suburbs of Rutherford County, with their growing Hispanic population, are the type of areas where Democrats are losing ground to Republicans nationally. But Democrats see this seat as an opportunity to crack the GOP’s suburban stronghold in a working-class community that they’ve targeted in recent years.
Mata is part of a new generation of Democrats trying to prove that a more confrontational approach to Republicans can succeed as the GOP moves further from the center-right politics that once defined Tennessee.
Luis Mata, Democratic candidate for State House 49 marches in a parade in Smyrna, Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Mata, a former policy coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said he’s running as a moderate, with stances like opposing school vouchers and eliminating sales tax on groceries.
“It’s about focusing on real issues and real solutions while calling out blatant extremism,” Mata said. “People are tired of culture war distractions, like banning books instead of fixing public schools.”
Sparks has held the District 49 seat for 14 years, providing a steady GOP presence in the Republican-controlled legislature. A former county commissioner, Sparks has seen the district’s rapid growth firsthand and campaigned on traditional conservative values.
Although he isn’t the most popular Republican among his colleagues, Sparks has fended off several primary challenges backed by state and local politicians. He attributes his success to his consistent conservative Christian platform.
Sparks often says God guides his decisions and takes pride in winning without major fundraising, calling it “doing more with less.” He sees immigration as the county’s biggest issue.
Last year, Rutherford County raised property taxes to deal with what the local mayor called “rapid growth.”
“Our county’s finances are strained, and illegal immigration is to blame,” Sparks said. “I’m probably the only one in the state willing to say that.”
Sparks defeated the last Democrat in Rutherford
Tennessee Republicans started their rise to dominance in the 1990s, breaking the Democrats’ grip on the state with anti-abortion and pro-gun messaging, painting the state’s Democratic leadership as out of touch with its Christian electorate.
In 2010, Republicans rode the Tea Party wave and opposition to President Barack Obama to take control of all three branches of state government for the first time since Reconstruction. That same year, Sparks defeated Kent Coleman, the last Democrat to hold any state office in Rutherford County.
Our county’s finances are strained, and illegal immigration is to blame. I’m probably the only one in the state willing to say that.
– Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna
Since then, Rutherford County has grown by nearly 7,500 people a year, jumping from 260,000 in 2010 to 360,000, according to 2023 U.S. Census estimates.
This growth is tied to Nashville’s economic boom. As Nashville became less affordable, the Smyrna-La Vergne area attracted blue-collar workers with cheaper housing. Smyrna and La Vergne now have 20,000 more residents than in 2010.
Suburbs, suburbs, and more suburbs
All of Nashville’s surrounding counties are becoming less rural and more suburban. These fast-changing areas are where Democrats hope to gain ground and reduce their superminority.
Gerrymandering hasn’t helped Democrats in Tennessee. President Joe Biden won 38% of the state vote in 2020, but Democrats only secured 26% of state House seats that year, and have fared even worse in the Senate. After the 2022 redistricting, Republicans gained two more state House seats, including one in Rutherford County.
Mata’s biggest challenge will be convincing Republicans likely to vote for Trump to support him.
Sparks, on the other hand, believes the district remains solidly conservative.
“This is a Republican community, and I don’t think it has changed,” Sparks said.
Mata argues that the state Republican party has gone too extreme on issues like abortion, guns, and taxes, cutting corporate taxes while ignoring local needs. He also claims that Sparks isn’t living up to his Christian values.
“He’s too busy trying to keep power and cater to special interests,” Mata said. “That’s offensive and disheartening to the religion I practice.”
The Sparks-Mata race will be a test of whether Democrats’ message can resonate in Nashville’s working-class suburbs. The party is aiming to flip five Republican seats in suburban areas across Tennessee, while Republicans are targeting a Democratic seat in Nashville.
Sparks is likely to get support from the state Republican Party in the form of canvassers and a mail campaign, which often turns negative.
For Democrats, the road to relevance in the state legislature will be a long one, and they may find more success in non-presidential election years in the suburbs. But in the 2020 presidential year, Democrat Brandon Thomas lost to Sparks by only 7%.
Even if they don’t win this race this year, coming close could signal that as the district grows in population, it may be ready for a Democratic flip within the next decade.
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