Memphis Jewish lawyer wins GOP primary in Tennessee

David Kustoff beats 12 other candidates to replace the outgoing Stephen Fincher

By JTA 6 August 2016, 9:02 am

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Tennessee Congressional candidate David Kustoff (YouTube screenshot)

Memphis attorney David Kustoff won the crowded Republican primary race for the 8th Congressional District seat in Tennessee.

Kustoff, who is Jewish, came out on top Thursday in a race that had 13 candidates all vying to replace incumbent Stephen Fincher, The Associated Press reported. Fincher, a Republican from Frog Jump, announced earlier this year that he would retire.

Kustoff is a former US attorney who oversaw most of the prosecutions in the Tennessee Waltz case, which convicted five former state lawmakers on bribery charges. He faces Democrat Rickey Hobson in the heavily Republican district.

Hobson had just one opponent in the Democratic primary, Gregory Alan Fry.

The Republican Jewish Coalition called Kustoff’s victory “wonderful news” in a statement Friday, saying “it means there will be another strong Jewish Republican voice in Congress” in addition to Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York. “Our country needs more lawmakers like David and Lee, who will fight to roll back” the policies of President Barak Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks wrote in the statement.