Erran Persley

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Erran Persley

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 4, 2016

Education

Bachelor's

Howard University

Graduate

Georgetown University

Contact

Personal website

Erran Felic Persley was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 4th Congressional District of Tennessee. Persley was defeated by incumbent Scott DesJarlais in the Republican primary on August 4, 2016.

Biography

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Persley received his B.A. in political science from Howard University in 1992 and his MBA in global economics and corporate strategy from Georgetown University in 2011. He has worked as an official and a partnership specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau. He worked for Chemonics International in a variety of positions, culminating in that of vice president for the Africa region.

Organizations and affiliations

• Board Member-Business Advisory Board, University of Tennessee-Martin
• Member-"Strike Force" Campaign Team-Cruz for President
• Member-Rutherford County GOP

Elections

2016

See also: Tennessee's 4th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Scott DesJarlais (R) defeated Steven Reynolds (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. DesJarlais defeated Yomi Faparusi, Erran Persley, and Grant Starrett in the Republican primary on August 4, 2016.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 4 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott DesJarlais Incumbent	65%	165,796
	Democratic	Steven Reynolds	35%	89,141
Total Votes				254,937
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State

U.S. House, Tennessee District 4 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Scott DesJarlais Incumbent	52.1%	24,211
Grant Starrett	43.3%	20,138
Erran Persley	3.5%	1,615
Yomi Faparusi	1.1%	493
Total Votes		46,457
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State

Campaign themes

2016

The following issues were listed on Persley's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Putting Our Veterans and Service Men and Women First: My father and his brothers were veterans of Vietnam and I’ve heard the stories of their service and challenges first hand. One of my uncles was a decorated war hero; however, he struggled after the war with physical and mental health issues as a result of his service. Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Rebuild our military strength through the reallocation of military spending to better serve the men and women who defend our freedom in the United States and around the world. It is time for our Defense Department to review and reduce the funding to large military contractors and begin to spend more to support our troops and their families. Supporting Small Business and increasing job creation through Regulatory Reform: Regulations can suffocate small businesses in red tape and impose higher costs on consumers and businesses. Controlling and reigning in federal regulations is essential to making sure Americans have the safety protections and healthy workplace environments they need without unnecessary burdens. I will work with my fellow members in Congress and the White House to reform the federal regulatory process. Social Security: We must begin a bipartisan effort to fix Social Security, while maintaining the promise we made to our nation’s seniors. Social Security was instituted in 1935 and has provided millions of Americans with the means of living healthy and productive lives during retirement. This important program is now collecting more money in Social Security taxes than it is paying out to retirees; however, as more baby boomers start to retire, this dynamic will change and the program will be paying out more than it receives. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) predicts the Social Security reserve fund will be depleted between 2030-2034. Second Amendment: I stand firmly in the support of the Second Amendment and the right of our citizens to bare arms. It is important to understand that the Second Amendment is not only about hunting; it is also about protecting our familes and homes. I’m dedicated to working with my congressional colleagues to protect the Second Amendment and promote a better understanding about our Constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms.	”
—Erran Persley's campaign website, http://persleyforcongress.com/issues/

See also

• United States House of Representatives
• Tennessee's 4th Congressional District election, 2016
• Tennessee's 4th Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• Facebook page
• Twitter feed

Footnotes

[show]

Tennessee's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Marsha Blackburn (R)

Bill Hagerty (R)

Representatives

District 1

Diana Harshbarger (R)

District 2

Tim Burchett (R)

District 3

Charles Fleischmann (R)

District 4

Scott DesJarlais (R)

District 5

Andy Ogles (R)

District 6

John Rose (R)

District 7

Vacant

District 8

David Kustoff (R)

District 9

Steve Cohen (D)

Republican Party (9)

Democratic Party (1)

Vacancies (1)