Colleen Owens, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in West Tennessee’s 8th District announced on Thursday that she is endorsing one of her opponents, Dr. George Flinn, for Congress. She is immediately suspending all of her campaign activities. Owens made the announcement during an appearance on Jackson’s WNWS 101.5 FM.
Owens said that she came to the conclusion that Dr. Flinn is the clear choice for Tennessee’s Congressional District 8.
“I’m excited to be voting for George and asking my supporters to vote for George Flinn, because he’s going to be the right person for West Tennessee. I do not want to be the spoiler that helped Congressman Kustoff go back to Washington,” Owens told WNWS host Dan Reaves. “After getting to know George better – I really like him. He’s conservative and a self-made businessman. He’s going to Washington and doesn’t owe anyone. He’s doing it for the right reasons.”
Owens stated that she has attended events with both David Kustoff and George Flinn. After being around both of them, she feels that George Flinn is the clear choice for West Tennessee.
“I came away feeling like George is a good man, and we agree on pretty much everything. This has been really fun – I’ve met so many people who have been supportive, but I had to ask myself what’s the most important thing, and I think that’s our country,” Owens explained in making her announcement.
One of the reasons that she entered the race was because Kustoff voted to fund Planned Parenthood, by voting in favor of the Omnibus Spending Bill H.R. 1625.
“I felt like with a Republican majority if they don’t have the backbone to get things done and do the things they promised, we need to cut ties. Sending Kustoff back to Washington is the wrong thing. We’ve got to have some big changes to stop the trajectory we are on,” Owens said.
Owens stated that one reason she supports George Flinn is because he is self-funding his campaign and will not be swayed to vote with special interest groups.
“Like Trump ran his campaign, George is self-funding, saying I’m not going to owe anyone in office. I know it to be true, he’s not going to owe anyone, and he’s not going to need any special interest money. He’s not going to have that temptation because it doesn’t mean anything to him,” said Owens.
Owens endorsement of Flinn came one day before the early voting period begins.
The NRA endorses Kustoff.