TN-08: Congress must suck even harder than we know, because the exodus of members of the Republican class of 2010 continues apace. The newest is Rep. Stephen Fincher, who bailed on Monday; his departure follows that of Rich Nugent (FL-05), Dan Benishek (MI-01), Chris Gibson (NY-19), Richard Hanna (NY-22), Scott Rigell (VA-02), Rob Hurt (VA-05), and Reid Ribble (WI-08), who only announced he was quitting on Saturday night.
Like most of the others on this list, Fincher was a political outsider who won office by picking up a Democratic-held seat, in this case a district represented by Blue Dog founder John Tanner, who retired rather than seek re-election in the face of the oncoming GOP onslaught. Tennessee's 8th was one of those areas, in fact, that hadn't sent a Republican to Congress since Reconstruction, but voters there, as they have throughout most of the South, had grown quite conservative and finally stopped splitting their tickets.
Fincher won in a landslide, but only after a nasty primary that revealed him as one of the biggest hypocrites in the Republican Party: Despite railing against government largesse, Fincher, an agribusiness kingpin, had taken millions in farm subsidies for himself. That issue re-emerged during his congressional career, when Fincher supported cutting billions in food stamps as part of a farm bill that offered yet more subsidies. Of course, in a district like this, which gave 66 percent of its vote to Mitt Romney, that brand of two-faced politics probably isn't much of an impediment.
And likewise, that deep conservatism means the GOP primary is the really race to follow. Two candidates immediately said they'd run: state Sen. Brian Kelsey and former U.S. Attorney David Kustoff, who was a George W. Bush state campaign chair. The list of other potential contenders is extremely long, but Roll Call's Simone Pathé has us covered. For what it's worth, the Democrat who lost to Fincher by 20 points, former state Sen. Roy Herron, says he's considering a bid, but it would be generous to describe his odds as long.