Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee announced on Wednesday that he would not run for a fourth term and pointed to the highly publicized impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a day prior as the catalyst for his decision.
"Our Fight Is With Washington"
"Our country - and our Congress - is broken beyond most means of repair," Green said in a statement. "I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington."
Serving in the 7th Congressional District since 2019, which was redrawn in 2022 to include a large portion of Nashville. He served in the state Senate before his current role. Those congressional maps that were redrawn are now facing a federal lawsuit, but that case isn't scheduled to go to trial until April 2025.
He also toyed with running for governor of the state in 2017 but called off the campaign after being nominated by Donald Trump to become Army secretary. He withdrew his nomination due to criticism faced over remarks made about Muslims, and LGBTQ Americans, including saying that being transgender is a disease.
He also expressed an opinion that a stand needed to be taken against "the indoctrination of Islam" in public schools and referred to a "Muslim horde" that invaded Constantinople hundreds of years ago.
He began gaining national notoriety and infamy after winning the congressional seat in 2018 when he stated, without citing proof, that vaccines caused autism. He later backed away from his statements but not before much criticism.
"As I have done my entire life, I will continue serving this country -- but in a new capacity," Green said Wednesday, not disclosing if he will run again for governor in 2026, where the seat will be up for grabs because Republican Gov. Bill Lee is prohibited from running under Tennessee's gubernatorial term limits.
