Don Sundquist - Career in Congress

Career in Congress

Sundquist first attracted political attention when he served as chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party (1975–1977) . He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976 and 1980. When 6th District Congressman Robin Beard ran for the Senate against incumbent Jim Sasser in 1982, Sundquist ran for the Republican nomination to succeed Beard in the district, which had been renumbered the 7th in redistricting. He succeeded in winning the nomination in August 1982, and then defeated Democrat Bob Clement, son of former governor Frank G. Clement, in the November 1982 general election by 1,000 votes. It was the first (and as of 2012, only) time a Democrat had come within 10 points in the 7th District since it fell into Republican hands in 1972. Clement later won election to the Nashville-based 5th District in a 1988 special election and served there until 2003. Sundquist probably would not have won had it not been for the 1980s round of redistricting. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly made the already Republican-leaning 7th even more Republican in return for the Republicans acquiescing in making the neighboring Memphis-based 9th District (formerly the 8th) a majority-black district.

Sundquist never faced another contest nearly as close as his first one. He was unopposed for reelection in 1984 and was reelected four more times by landslide margins. While in Congress, Sundquist established a very conservative voting record, and was a darling of conservative-oriented groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the American Conservative Union.