Bennett, an attorney, and Robin Smith, a health care consultant and former chair of the Tennessee Republican Party who also unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2010, will not run. Mary Headrick, an emergency room and acute care physician, and Bill Taylor, a businessman, will seek the Democratic nomination. Brenda Freeman Short, an unsuccessful Democratic primary candidate for the seat in 2010, may run again. Matthew Deniston, an Army Veteran and former Ranger, is running as an independent. Topher Kersting, a Web designer, will run as an Independent. External links Ron Bhalla campaign website Chuck Fleischmann campaign website Mary Headrick campaign website Jean Howard-Hill campaign website Scottie Mayfield campaign website Bill Taylor campaign website Weston Wamp campaign website District 4 The redrawn 4th district represented Bedford, Bledsoe, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, Marion, Marshall, Meigs, Moore, Rhea, Rutherford, Sequatchie, and Warren counties, and parts of Bradley, Maury, and Van Buren counties. The most populous city in the district was Murfreesboro, which had previously anchored the 6th District. Republican Scott DesJarlais had represented the 4th district since January 2011. Potential candidates and primaries State senator Bill Ketron, a Murfreesboro resident, had been rumored to be considering a run for the 4th; he was chairman of the redistricting committee and reportedly drew Murfreesboro into the district to facilitate a run. However, on January 22, 2012 he announced he would not run. State Senator Jim Tracy had also been rumored to be considering a bid, but decided against it earlier in January. State senator Eric Stewart announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge DesJarlais in late 2011. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made his candidacy their top priority in the South in early 2012. Phil Bredesen, a former Governor of Tennessee, endorsed Stewart. DesJarlais won the Republican Party primary on August 2, 2012, with about 76% of the vote, besting his opponent, Shannon Kelley, by 35,057 votes to 10,779 in a preliminary count. Stewart won the Democratic party endorsement. General election campaign The general election was characterized by controversies involving the incumbent. Stewart agreed to three debates, but DesJarlais told the media that he would not participate. The incumbent was "open to revisiting the question later in the campaign", accusing Stewart of "lack of clarity on the issues" as a reason to avoid debating him. Stewart responded that DesJarlais was avoiding the voters. The local media were critical of the congressman's stance