Safe District

If you are wondering about how effective the 2010 census was in redistricting for the benefit of the Republican Party look no further than this guy:

Records released Thursday from Rep. Scott DesJarlais's (R-Tenn.) 2001 divorce appear to confirm previous reports that DesJarlais had sexual relationships with patients while a practicing physician in Tennessee. The Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained the documents, which reveal that DesJarlais, who opposes abortion rights, supported his ex-wife in obtaining two abortions before their marriage.

In a profession famous for hypocrites the self-proclaimed "family values" conservative Scott DesJarlais stands at the very top by having a morality dealt from the bottom of the deck.

All of this information was pretty well covered in the press before the 2012 election as DesJarlais ran for his second term. But DesJarlais had the greatest of weapons in his arsenal an (R) behind his name. The result confirmed it as the voters of Tennessee's 4th District returned him to Congress with 56% of the vote, only 1% less than he had received two years before.

 The nation's demographics may favor the modern Democrats, but the GOP has managed to gerrymander a stable majority out of a minority in voting by creating districts represented by people like Scott DesJarlais.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]