Despite Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District being a strongly Republican area, having elected both Donald Trump and Mark Green by more than 20 points each in November, the special election is shaping up to be close. Early voting runs through Nov. 26, Thanksgiving Week, and the general election date is Dec. 2. Nothing about the election schedule is conducive to heavy turnout and Democrats seem poised to take advantage of that to try to flip a seat from red to blue.

Democrats are pouring heavy money into their support of extremist liberal Aftyn Behn. That is the expected, particularly with the momentum they gained with wins in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City a week ago.

But it also appears that Democrats are playing some sketchy politics with a supposed conservative independent candidate, Jon Thorp, on the ballot. He isn’t really campaigning much himself, not spending any significant money on mail, radio, or television. But he doesn’t have to because liberal groups seem to be taking care of that for him.

It appears that Thorp initially hoped to run as a Republican but was advised he would not qualify as bona fide since he was not even registered to vote prior to expressing his interest in running for Congress. At that point, he opted to run as an independent.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he had only raised $7,391.95 through the end of September and had about $60 cash on hand. He reported owing about $20,000. Then suddenly a liberal out of state PAC starts dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars on his behalf?

A PAC in Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden country, has already done one mail piece promoting Thorp as a conservative Army combat pilot. The issues he is supposedly focused on are the same ones that Behn and Democrats nationally are talking about. What an amazing coincidence.

But it is not a coincidence at all. The Daily Caller reports: “The effort to boost the independent candidate in Tennessee’s 7th District is being led by the “Democratic/Liberal” PAC, Your Community. On Oct. 31, the PAC quietly released a poll showing Republican Matt Van Epps leading Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn by eight points ahead of the Dec. 2 special election to replace Green.” The poll that Your Community PAC released is connected to liberal donors such as George Soros.

And now that same liberal/Democrat PAC has reportedly dumped a half million dollars behind a TV ad attacking Matt Van Epps that also looks and sounds remarkably similar to what Behn is promoting. Hmmmmm.

Thorp might claim that he has nothing to do with the outside liberal interests attacking Matt Van Epps on his behalf. And he would be completely justified in pointing out that he cannot legally “coordinate” with them and tell them what issues to focus upon. Perhaps they are just taking advantage of a supposed conservative military veteran on the ballot to boost his numbers enough to pull a few thousand conservative votes away from Matt Van Epps. That would be good and likely effective, though underhanded, political strategy by Behn and the Democrats.

So, is Thorp simply a useful tool for the Left or is he a co-conspirator in their sneaky political scheme? A review of his website certainly reveals more creative genius in confusing conservative voters than anything in his history would suggest he is capable of. 
While his site seems to target “both” parties he (and the PAC promoting him) ONLY attack Van Epps. No shots at Behn. The logo on his website uses the same helicopter logo and even color scheme used by Matt Van Epps.

But most importantly, his selection of his web designer reveals a lot more. The company HE chose is NXT Gen Agency. Their own site touts the fact that they focus on left-wing causes and candidates. “Our team has worked with campaigns and organizations of all sizes, from grassroots movements to national initiatives. We are passionate about championing causes that matter, from racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights to climate action and gender equity.“ Not exactly the sort of stuff that would lead a true conservative independent to select them to help select the conservative congressman from Tennessee.

In fact, some of their previous work cited on their site includes a number of left-wing candidates, as well as the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance. Wonder what led Thorp to pick them to lead his brain trust?

In a quick sprint special election, shenanigans like this can easily escape the scrutiny of most if not all of the media in Tennessee. And perhaps they can fool enough voters to “steal” the seventh district special election thanks to the assistance of Thorp and low voter turn out. Democrats love to shout “this is what democracy looks like” at their sometimes violent rallies and protests. But those who actually support fair and honest elections should be repulsed by what this looks like. Because it looks like exactly what it is.

Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.