Scott DesJarlais

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Scott DesJarlais
Scott DesJarlais, Official Portrait, 112th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Lincoln Davis
Personal details
Born Scott Eugene DesJarlais
(1964-02-21) February 21, 1964 (age 49)
Des Moines, Iowa
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Susan (div.2001)
Amy
Children 4
Residence Jasper, Tennessee
Alma mater University of South Dakota
Profession Physician
Religion Episcopalian
Website Official website

Scott Eugene DesJarlais[1] (/ˈdeɪʒɑːrleɪ/; born February 21, 1964)[2] is an American physician currently serving as U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 4th congressional district after winning re-election to a second term on November 6, 2012.[3] The district, the state's largest, stretches across a large and mostly rural swath of East and Middle Tennessee. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and medical career[edit]

DesJarlais was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Joe DesJarlais, a barber, and Sylvia, a registered nurse at Fort Meade Veterans' Hospital in South Dakota. He has undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of South Dakota and earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. He was originally from Sturgis, South Dakota, and moved to East Tennessee in 1993.[4] Today, DesJarlais practices medicine at Grand View Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee.[5]

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Elections[edit]

2010
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010#District 4*

In 2009, DesJarlais—who had never run for elected office before—filed papers to challenge Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis,[6] as well as Independents Paul H. Curtis, James Gray, Richard S. Johnson, and Gerald York.[7] DesJarlais defeated Davis 57%-39%,[8] the third-largest defeat of a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle, and the first time that an incumbent had been unseated in the district since its creation in 1983.

2012
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2012#District 4

DesJarlais was challenged by Democratic nominee and state senator Eric Stewart. Prior to the 2012 election, the Fourth District was significantly altered as a result of redistricting. Notably, Murfreesboro, formerly the heart of the 6th District, was shifted into the 4th. The redrawn 4th contains about half of the constituents who resided in the former the 4th district, with 14 of 24 counties being moved elsewhere by redistricting.[9] For a time, it was thought that DesJarlais would face a primary challenge from state senator Bill Ketron, a Murfreesboro resident and the chairman of the state senate redistricting committee. However, Ketron decided that he wouldn't run.

During the election campaigns, events from DesJarlais' personal life became public, making the 2012 race against Stewart "one of the ugliest Tennessee congressional races in decades".[10] Stories that surfaced included the fact that during the divorce proceedings, DesJarlais' first wife Susan had alleged that her ex-husband engaged in "violent and threatening behavior".[11] Court filings revealed that he had at least four affairs.[12] One was with a female patient. According to the Huffington Post, tapes that DesJarlais himself recorded, show that he pressured her to have an abortion after she became pregnant.[13][14] A second woman came forward, stating that she began dating DesJarlais while she was his patient. She alleges that the two smoked marijuana together and he prescribed pain medications for her while at his house.[15]

In October 2012, the non-profit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington requested that the Tennessee Department of Health investigate evidence that DesJarlais had a sexual relationship with a patient, an allegation that could open the congressman to disciplinary action for potentially violating medical ethics.[16][17] In November 2012, the same group filed another complaint against DesJarlais with the Office of Congressional Ethics, claiming that the Congressman lied about a telephone conversation with a former patient and mistress.[18]

DesJarlais defeated Stewart 56%-44%[19][20] joining all the other incumbent members of Tennessee congressional delegation who also won their re-election bids.[3]

2014
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2014#District 4

Committee assignments[edit]

Personal life[edit]

DesJarlais and his second wife, Amy, have three children. They live in Jasper, a town about 30 miles west of Chattanooga, in Marion County. DesJarlais divorced his first wife, Susan, in 2001; they have one child.[21]

On November 15, 2012--two weeks after the election--the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained a transcript of DesJarlais' 2001 divorce proceeding with his first wife. It revealed that DesJarlais had admitted under oath to at least six sexual relationships with people he came in contact with while chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper. Among them were at least two patients. The state Democratic Party had fought to get the transcript released before the election, but the transcript--which ran to 679 typed pages--was not complete at the time. The transcript also revealed that contrary to his staunch anti-abortion stance as a congressman, he had counseled his then-wife to have two abortions and pressured one of the patients with whom he'd had an affair with to get an abortion. Additional transcripts revealed that he had prescribed pain pills to at least one patient with whom he'd had an affair--a clear conflict of interest.[22][23][24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Campaign contributions". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  2. ^ [1][dead link]
  3. ^ a b "DesJarlais Wins Second Term Despite Scandal". NewsChannel5.com (Nashville: CBS). Nov 06, 2012 Updated: Nov 07, 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012. 
  4. ^ Henry, Larry (Aug. 23, 2010). "Tight race forecast in 4th Congressional District". Chattanooga Times Free Press. 
  5. ^ "Scott DesJarlais for Congress — Tennessee 4th District: About Dr. Scott DesJarlais". Scottdesjarlais.com. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
  6. ^ [2][dead link]
  7. ^ "General Election State Candidates". Retrieved October 11, 2010. 
  8. ^ http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/tennessee
  9. ^ Collins, Michael (2012-10-26). "DesJarlais has to scramble with new district alignment » Knoxville News Sentinel". Knoxnews.com. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  10. ^ "Scott DesJarlais holds lead (with video)". Chattanooga Times Free Press. November 7, 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012. 
  11. ^ Woods, Jeff (September 16, 2010). "Papers from DesJarlais' Bitter Divorce Pop Up in Media". National Scene. 
  12. ^ Scott DesJarlais' Second Mistress: Another Woman Claims Affair With Tennessee Congressman, by Michael McAuliff, Huffington Post, 28 October 2012
  13. ^ McAuliff, Michael (October 10, 2012). "Scott DesJarlais, Pro-Life Republican Congressman And Doctor, Pressured Mistress Patient To Get Abortion". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 10, 2012. 
  14. ^ "Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais pressed mistress to get an abortion, report says". washingtonpost.com. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  15. ^ "2nd Scott DesJarlais girlfriend talks". timesfreepress.com. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  16. ^ Sisk, Chas (Oct 16, 2012). "Rep. Scott DesJarlais faces ethics complaint over relationship". The Tennessean. Retrieved Oct 29, 2012. 
  17. ^ Viebeck, Elise (October 15, 2012). "Ethics complaint filed against DesJarlais". The Hill. Retrieved October 29, 2012. 
  18. ^ Barton, Paul C. (Nov 27, 2012). "Watchdog group files ethics complaint against Rep. Scott DesJarlais". The Tennessean. Retrieved Nov 29, 2012. 
  19. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=705219
  20. ^ "Tennessee election results". CNN. November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  21. ^ "Old Divorce File Riles Tennessee". Roll Call. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  22. ^ Michael McAuliff (2012-11-16). "Scott DesJarlais Approved Wife's Abortion, Slept With Coworkers, Patients, Court Records Say". Retrieved 2012-12-25. 
  23. ^ http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/24/desjarlais-fined-for-sex-with-2-patients/
  24. ^ Chris Carroll; Kate Harrison (2012-11-15). "Scott DesJarlais supported ex-wife's abortions, slept with patients, divorce transcript shows". Chattanooga Times Free Press. 

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scott DesJarlais.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Lincoln Davis		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 4th congressional district
January 3, 2011 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Jeff Denham
R-California		 United States Representatives by seniority
287th		 Succeeded by
Sean Duffy
R-Wisconsin
Senators
Representatives
(ordered by district)
Other states'
delegations
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