Early life, education, and medical career

DesJarlais was born in 1964 in Des Moines, Iowa to Joe DesJarlais, a barber, and Sylvia, a registered nurse. He grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota. Over ten years he, his parents and his brother and sister built their own house in Sturgis; his parents still live there. DesJarlais earned his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of South Dakota in 1987 and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine in 1991. He moved to East Tennessee in 1993 to practice medicine as a generalist.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

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

DesJarlais is a member of the Tea Party movement. In 2009 he entered politics, filing papers to challenge Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis, as well as Independents Paul H. Curtis, James Gray, Richard S. Johnson, and Gerald York. Late in the 2010 race the Washington newspaper Roll Call reported details of DesJarlais's 2001 divorce proceedings, including an allegation by his ex-wife that he had engaged in "violent and threatening" behavior involving guns and that during and after the divorce he petitioned the Chancery Court "repeatedly" to have his child support payments lowered. The Davis campaign used the claims in print and TV attack ads and told Roll Call that Fourth District voters "expect more than lip service about family values." DesJarlais defeated Davis 57%-39%, 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. While the 4th has historically not been considered safe for either party, its size and configuration (it stretches across two time zones and parts of four television markets) usually makes it very difficult to oust an incumbent.

2012

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

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 4th district, with 14 of 24 counties being moved elsewhere by redistricting.

DesJarlais was challenged by Democratic nominee and state senator Eric Stewart. 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. DesJarlais defeated Stewart 56%-44% joining all the other incumbent members of Tennessee congressional delegation who also won their re-election bids.

2012 scandals

Late in the 2012 election campaign, more events from DesJarlais's personal life became public, making the race against Stewart "one of the ugliest Tennessee congressional races in decades". In October 2012 the Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a September 2000 phone conversation that DesJarlais himself had recorded, in which he pressured a mistress, a former patient 24 years younger than he, to get an abortion. He explained to the mistress that he was trying to save his marriage. Nine days before the general election a second woman came forward to state that she began dating DesJarlais while she was his patient. She alleged that the two smoked marijuana together and that he prescribed pain medications for her while at his house.

Two weeks after DesJarlais won the 2012 election, the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained a full transcript of DesJarlais's 2001 divorce proceedings. The state Democratic Party had fought DesJarlais's lawyers to get the document—which ultimately ran to 679 typed pages, as transcribed from court reporters' shorthand—released, but the court ruled that it could not be entered into the public record until it was properly transcribed in its entirety. DesJarlais lost the case, but the ruling came the day before the election. The transcript revealed that DesJarlais had admitted under oath to at least six sexual relationships with people he came in contact with while he was chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee. Among them were three co-workers, two patients and a drug representative. The transcript also revealed that contrary to his staunch anti-abortion stance as a candidate and congressman, he and his wife had had two abortions, the second time because “things were not going well between us", and the recorded phone call in which he actively pressured one of the patients with whom he'd had an affair to get an abortion.

Three weeks after he won the election, speaking on a conservative talk radio show, DesJarlais informed the public that "God has 'forgiven me' and asked 'fellow Christians' and constituents 'to consider doing the same'." "I don't think, Ralph, that I implied that there was nothing in my past. I didn't go back and dig up all my personal shortcomings and display them."

Formal reprimand

In October 2012, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested that the Tennessee Board of Health investigate evidence that DesJarlais had had a sexual relationship with a patient, in violation of the Tennessee Medical Practice Act. The complaint was investigated and in May 2013 DesJarlais was formally reprimanded by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners for having sex with patients and was fined $500 - calculated by the Board as "$250 per patient" - and $1000 in costs. He did not contest the charges.

In November 2012, after further details of the divorce proceedings were published, CREW asked the House of Representatives' Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether DesJarlais had violated House ethics rules, asserting that he had "blatantly" lied when he denied having taped the telephone conversation.

2014

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

In 2014 DesJarlais's seat was considered vulnerable, as controversy over the divorce record revelations returned to the fore. He had been re-elected in 2012 with a reduced majority. DesJarlais held his seat.

State senator Jim Tracy challenged DesJarlais in the primary. At the end of June 2013, Tracy had raised nearly $750,000 (including over $300,000 in the second quarter of 2013) for his bid. He raised an additional $150,000 in the fourth quarter and reported $840,000 cash-on-hand. By contrast, at the end of September, DesJarlais reported $170,000 cash-on-hand. DesJarlais won the primary by a margin of 38 votes. Tracy decided not to challenge the results, despite citing irregularities.

2016

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2016 § District 4

DesJarlais is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the 2016 cycle. In January 2016, Politico rated Tennessee's Fourth District as one of the top five primary races to watch for 2016. The conservative blog Power Line noted that “In terms of policy, DesJarlais isn’t a strong conservative.”. Mark Levin's Conservative Review has said, "DesJarlais puts forward a carefully orchestrated rhetorical mirage void of significant conservative principles," and that "A more careful look at this record, however, reveals more than a few constitutional blind spots" noting his support for green energy subsidies to Solyndra and vote against a balanced budget amendment.

In 2015, Grant Starrett, an attorney and conservative activist from Murfreesboro, announced he would challenge Scott DesJarlais in the Republican primary. Starrett raised $826,000 in the first six months of the race and garnered endorsements from conservative radio hosts Hugh Hewitt and Erick Erickson, and the conservative Power Line Blog. The Rothenberg Political Report currently names the Fourth District a "'Safe Republican' contest".

Committee assignments

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules

Caucus memberships

• Freedom Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Republican Doctors Caucus
• General Aviation Caucus
• Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine
• Congressional Skin Care Caucus
• Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus
• Congressional Chicken Caucus
• Congressional Taiwan Caucus
• Congressional Range and Testing Center Caucus
• Congressional Aluminum Caucus
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus
• Cystic Fibrosis Caucus
• Malaria Caucus
• Border Security Caucus

Legislation

As of April 2016 Rep. DesJarlais has sponsored 14 bills, two resolutions and one joint resolution and has cosponsored 585 legislative actions.

DesJarlais was the first member of the House Freedom Caucus to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States.

Personal life

Scott and Amy DesJarlais have three children. They live in South Pittsburg. They are members of the Epiphany Mission Episcopal Church in Sherwood, Tennessee.

Health

In July 2014, DesJarlais announced he was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy to treat cancer in his neck which had spread to a lymph node. In a campaign appearance during his illness DesJarlais indicated that the cancer had affected his voice but added that the type is curable 90% of the time. The cancer and chemotherapy caused him to lose over forty pounds, limiting his ability to make appearances and campaign. In June 2015 DesJarlais announced that he was cancer-free.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]