Tennessee legislature passes residency bill that would disqualify Trump-backed candidate

Nashville Tennessean

Roll call is taken in the House during the 112th Tennessee General Assembly, at Tennessee state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022.

A bill to place residency requirements on Tennessee congressional candidates cleared its final hurdle in the General Assembly on Monday as both chambers agreed to allow the requirements to take effect immediately upon signing.

The House and Senate had previously passed competing versions of the bill, which implicitly targeted the candidacy of Morgan Ortagus, whose bid for the 5th Congressional District in the Republican primary could be deemed ineligible if the bill is signed into law.

The bill requires eligible candidates to live in the state and district they seek to represent for at least three years prior to the election

Lawsuit:Tennessee sued over residency bill that would disqualify Trump-backed candidate

Residency:House version would push Tennessee congressional residency rule beyond November election

Senate action:Tennessee legislation to bar newcomers from primary races passes Senate

The residency requirement bill bubbled up in the General Assembly shortly after Ortagus bagged an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who praised the Fox News commentator for her work at the State Department during his administration.

The endorsement ruffled feathers in some national Republican circles, Politico reported, in addition to some in Tennessee, where Ortagus had relatively little name recognition and no political track record.

Ortagus relocated from Washington D.C. to Nashville in 2021, announcing her candidacy shortly after an aggressive redistricting push earlier this year divided Nashville and pushed current U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, to announce he would not seek reelection.

Longtime Democrat:US Rep. Jim Cooper will not seek reelection after GOP redraws Nashville congressional district

Under the redrawn map, Ortagus did not initially live in the new-look 5th district, according to public records that connected her to a Nashville apartment in the Germantown neighborhood. Paperwork maintained by the Tennessee of Secretary of State shows Ortagus pulled a petition to run under a different address, which is in the 5th District.

Former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus announced she will run for Tennessee's new 5th Congressional District after an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Regardless, Ortagus would not meet the three-year residency requirement under the new bill.

In a statement Monday night, Ortagus said she was proud to be a part of the Nashville community and raise her family here.

"No one questioned my residency when I served our country in the intelligence community, the Trump Administration, nor in the U.S. Navy Reserves, and President Trump certainly didn't question my residency when he endorsed me for this seat," Ortagus said. "I continue to trust my fellow Tennesseans, the voters in the 5th district, to choose who will best represent them in Congress."

Ortagus did not comment on whether she would take any steps to challenge the bill, if signed into law.

Current law does not require congressional candidates to live in the district they represent, only to be a resident of the state they represent by Election Day.

Legislative lawyers have warned the residency bill could be ripe for a legal challenge, as other states have tried and failed to implement additional residency requirements for congressional candidates.

More than a dozen Republican candidates have picked up qualifying petitions for the 5th Congressional primary, according to Secretary of State records. The new-look district includes parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties, along with rural Lewis, Maury and Marshall counties.

The petition filing deadline is April 7.

More on the GOP battle for the 5th

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.

Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest politics news, podcasts like Grand Divisions, plus newsletters, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's daily sites.