The task ahead of state Rep. David Shepard does not look easy, says Chas Sisk, who states the task as: How do you win an election when your party’s standard-bearer could lose as much as 60 percent of the vote in the district you’re trying to win?
Shepard, a Democrat from Dickson, says the answer is to convince voters that he is a bipartisan lawmaker with a strong record on constituent services.
“People know I’m available, accessible, that I listen to people,” said the 65-year-old pharmacy owner. “I think people generally like me.”
Shepard will try to hang on as one of the few remaining Democrats from rural Tennessee in the state House of Representatives, in a rematch with Republican Wayne White for the House District 69 seat.
Once the state’s dominant political force — especially in Middle and West Tennessee — rural Democrats have seen their ranks thin to 10 members in the House, making them a minority within the minority party. Unless Democrats can find a way to reverse the trend, they have little chance of regaining their footing in Tennessee.
…White, a 54-year-old amusement company owner from Slayden, said the difference in party is the main factor separating the two candidates.
“It’s not that he’s a bad guy,” White said. “We just think differently on some things.”
Kenneth Buser, an independent, is also running for the seat. He did not respond to interview requests.
Shepard appears to retain the edge. In redistricting earlier this year, Republicans moved several Dickson County precincts that White had won in 2010 into the neighboring House District 78, shoring up their strength there. In place of those precincts, the GOP moved several Democratic-leaning precincts in Maury County into House District 69.