District 13 House Republican candidates spar over immigration in attack campaign mailer

The political attack mailers and TV commercials on immigration from state Rep. Robert Stevens have his Republican opponent Jami Averwater, disputing what she calls false claims regarding illegal immigration.

"It's full of lies," said Averwater, an attorney who's also an elected member of the Murfreesboro City Council.

Averwater and Stevens, a Smyrna resident who's also a lawyer, are competing in the Aug. 1 Republican primary to represent District 13 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. The GOP winner will face unopposed Democrat Jonathan Yancey in the Nov. 5 election.

Averwater said the mailer in question falsely accuses her of supporting what the flyer describes as two radical leftist organizations. What she did as a student at Belmont University College of Law involved volunteering to help legal immigrants at a citizenship workshop, she said.

"I don't regret that," said Averwater, noting that she does not work or advocate for the organizations mentioned in the mailer: Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and Tennessee Justice For Our Neighbors.

"The people I helped were here legally in the United States, and they just wanted to become American citizens," said Averwater, who graduated from law school in 2019.

Averwater has recently sent out her own attack mailer, telling voters that "Robert Stevens and Joe Biden are two peas in a pod," on a flyer that depicts the faces of both men in green in the middle of a pea pod image.

Stevens stands by his mailer and TV commercial.

"Anyone who claims to be conservative should not be associating with the two radical groups she associated with," said Stevens, a 2009 graduate of University of Memphis Law School who won his District 13 seat in the November 2022 election.

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Mailer criticizes Averwater for advising people in Spanish

Stevens confirmed that he hired fellow state Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro, to prepare the attack mailer in question.

The mailer also accused Averwater during former President Donald Trump's term in office of helping "illegals avoid ICE deportation raids by posting warnings in Spanish on social media − and actually told them how not to get caught!"

"I don’t know why she’s upset," said Stevens, who's in his second year in his Tennessee General Assembly seat. "This is all information that she posted on her Facebook page and statements she made."

Averwater, who's bilingual in English and Spanish, said her social media post in question was not telling people how to hide from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It was a post explaining your constitutional rights when you are approached by law enforcement," Averwater said. "It just happened to be in Spanish."

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Attack TV commercial shows street protesters

The attack TV commercial makes similar points as the mailer. The video shows street demonstrators carrying a sign saying, "WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS!". The commercial also shows the image of a border patrol SUV and another officer apprehending a suspect.

Averwater said she's heard from District 13 voters who are offended by the negative attack mailer and TV commercial.

"Some also accused (the attack mailer and TV commercial) as being racist," Averwater said. "It seems like my opponent is ignorant to our country’s immigration laws. He doesn’t understand you can be here legally and not be a United States citizen."

She contends Stevens went negative with his campaign message because internal polling of voters shows him behind in the Republican primary.

"It just makes them mad that a state representative that they voted for is lying," Averwater said.

Stevens said his recent campaign polling shows him being "significantly ahead" in the primary.

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TV commercial questions Averwater stance with Trump

Stevens said he stands by his "tough on crime legislation" and positions on immigration.

"We have to do everything we can at the state level to repel illegal immigration, and I have a consistent history of voting to do that and will continue to do so," said Stevens, a former elected 12-year member of the Rutherford County Commission prior to winning his state lawmaker seat.

The TV commercial also accused Averwater of saying that she was "proud to be against Trump." The video attributes the comment to a March 1, 2016, article in The Tennessean that quoted her as being among millennial generation voters against Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president.

Averwater said she will back whomever the Republican Party selects as the nominee for president.

"I will support any candidate who relieves our country from Bidenomics because our inflation is out of control," Averwater said.

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Averwater says Stevens spends too much time filing complaints

Averwater contends she'll be a better voice for District 13 than the incumbent.

"He spent a lot more time filing complaints against local elected officials than he did speaking for the people of Rutherford County," Averwater said. "That’s embarrassing."

Stevens recently filed a sworn complaint asking the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to pursue investigations and audits of campaign donations involving Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland, Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed and Tennesseans for Greater Accountability, a political action committee.

The initial complaint came out in January when Mayor Reed was promoting a referendum asking Smyrna voters if the Town Council should eliminate the local General Sessions Court presided by elected Judge Brittany Stevens, the sister of the incumbent state representative. Over 71% of the Smyrna voters rejected the March 5 referendum, which would have meant transferring the town's criminal cases to General Sessions Courts at the Rutherford County Judicial Center in downtown Murfreesboro.

The Averwater attack mailer alluded to the General Sessions Court issue.

"State Representative Robert Stevens is like the Biden crime family. He weaponizes his office to protect his family's interest," the Averwater attack mailer said.

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La Vergne mayor backs Stevens

Reed and McFarland are quoted on Averwater's attack mailer. Both mayors are among the six people on one of Averwater's mailers endorsing her in the District 13 campaign for the state representative seat.

Stevens said he's not going after endorsements from Democrats or officials "who raised our property taxes, so she can have all those."

"None of those people even live in the district," Stevens said.

District 13 runs north to south on the fast-growing western side of Rutherford County. The district covers most of La Vergne and parts of Smyrna. The boundary includes all or much of the Burnt Knob, Stewarts Creek, Almaville, Blackman, Rockvale and Eagleville areas down to state Route 99 (Salem Pike).

Stevens has the backing of La Vergne Mayor Jason Cole, who is a resident of the District 13 area.

"As mayor and a voter of the district, only one candidate has directly reached out to me to address any questions I have and to ask for my vote," said Cole, who has posted campaign signs on the front and back sides of his home property for Stevens.

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Mayors endorsing Averwater backed property tax hikes

Stevens opposed property tax hikes while he served on the Rutherford County Commission.

McFarland voted with the majority of the Murfreesboro City Council in raising property taxes by 35.8% in 2019. The decision was Murfreesboro's first tax hike since 1998. The mayor suggested the increase was necessary to keep up with inflation to provide for government and public education services and projects for his fast-growing city.

Reed prior to becoming mayor joined the majority of the Smyrna Town Council in support of a 19.7% property tax hike in 2013. The increase came after her government had cut jobs because of declining revenues following the Great Recession years.

In 2006, Reed campaigned unsuccessfully as a Democrat with her former name, Mary Esther Bell, to unseat Republican incumbent state Rep. Donna Rowland (now known as Donna Barrett). The incumbent Republican held the District 34 seat with 55.23% of the vote.

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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

Election schedule 2024 for Rutherford County

• Election Day for Rutherford County and Murfreesboro offices, as well as primaries for state and federal legislative offices: Aug. 1

• Last day to register to vote in Aug. 1 election: July 2

• Absentee by mail voting period for Aug. 1 election: May 3-July 25

• Early voting period for Aug. 1 election: July 12-27

• Election Day for president and offices for federal, state, Eagleville, La Vergne and Smyrna: Nov. 5

• Last day to register to vote in Nov. 5 election: Oct. 7

• Absentee by mail voting period for Nov. 5 election: Aug. 7-Oct. 29

• Early voting period for Aug. 1 election: Oct. 16-31

Source: Rutherford County Election Commission website

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: District 13 House candidates spar over immigration in attack mailer