The new congressman from the 8th District is Republican Stephen Fincher, a gospel-singing farmer who was elected in 2010 to succeed the retiring Democratic Rep. John Tanner. Fincher grew up in Frog Jump, Tenn. Since the age of nine, he has made the rounds of the gospel-singing circuit as a member of the Fincher Family, performing with his father, a cousin, and an uncle at more than 100 events a year around the region. He worked most of his life on the family farm, which produces cotton, corn, soybeans, and wheat. Fincher has said he had his own crop at age 12 and was developing budgets at 13. Read More

The new congressman from the 8th District is Republican Stephen Fincher, a gospel-singing farmer who was elected in 2010 to succeed the retiring Democratic Rep. John Tanner. Fincher grew up in Frog Jump, Tenn. Since the age of nine, he has made the rounds of the gospel-singing circuit as a member of the Fincher Family, performing with his father, a cousin, and an uncle at more than 100 events a year around the region. He worked most of his life on the family farm, which produces cotton, corn, soybeans, and wheat. Fincher has said he had his own crop at age 12 and was developing budgets at 13.

A friend asked him to run against Tanner in 2010, and he took on the challenge, even though he faced better-funded opponents for the Republican nomination. But using the theme “Plow Congress,” he raised $300,000 so quickly, and without any staff, that his presence in the race was largely credited with prompting Tanner to retire. His primary fight against Shelby County Commissioner George Flinn and physician Ron Kirkland became one of the most expensive contests in the country: $7 million was spent in an area with one of the nation’s lowest median incomes. Fincher won with 50% of the vote.

After Tanner’s announcement, Democratic state Sen. Roy Herron decided to drop out of the gubernatorial race and run for the House seat. A farmer himself, as well as a Methodist preacher, an author, and a lawyer, Herron vowed that “No one will out-God me, no one will outgun me.”

Democrats criticized Fincher for collecting millions of dollars in federal farm subsidies between 1995 and 2006. He responded that he needed to participate in the program to earn a living. Despite that, he won the endorsement of several key tea party organizations in Tennessee, and polls in the district had him continually leading Herron, even though he bypassed the traditional campaign rituals of releasing his tax returns, appearing before newspaper editorial boards, and debating Herron, whom he derided as a “career politician.” The National Republican Congressional Committee spent more than $250,000 during October alone to help him, and Fincher kept apace with Herron in fundraising, $3 million to $2.6 million, respectively. He won a resounding 59%-39% victory. He lost four of the counties that Tanner had carried in his last contested election in 2006. But he won the other counties, including Madison, the most populous county which contains Jackson, 57%-41%.

In the House, Fincher joined the Tea Party Caucus. He supported the fiscal 2011 budget deal that President Barack Obama struck with House GOP leaders in April 2011, but earlier had been among the House lawmakers who rallied on the Senate steps in an effort to force the upper chamber to agree to larger spending cuts. “We were not sent here to go along and compromise,” he said. “We were sent to come up here and lead.” He also continued his fundraising prowess, bringing in more than $235,000 in the first quarter of 2011.