Bobby Harshbarger, son of Rep. Diana Harshbarger, to challenge state Sen. Jon Lundberg
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — Bobby Harshbarger, the son of Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, will run against incumbent state Sen. Jon Lundberg in the Tennessee Senate District 4 Republican primary.
Harshbarger, a pharmacist, announced his campaign on Wednesday for the seat representing Hawkins and Sullivan counties.
“As a father of two young sons, I worry when I look around and see what’s going on in our country and classrooms,” Harshbarger said in a release. “Our current senator, who’s been in office for nearly 20 years, has forgotten the people who put him there in the first place, and his voting record shows it. We need leaders in Nashville who represent the values of families in Hawkins and Sullivan Counties and will stand up for what’s right and just, and I look forward to earning the trust and support of the voters.”
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Lundberg was elected to the Senate in 2016 and currently chairs the Senate Education Committee. The Bristol Republican was also a state representative for 10 years.
Harshbarger says Lundberg’s recent voting record is not in line with conservative values.
“I’m going to be the one that stands up and says Jon Lundberg you voted wrong, sir,” he said.
Specifically, Harshbarger cites two immigration bills and two bills linked to LGBTQ concerns where he says Lundberg’s actions were not what East Tennessee needs.
“Recently Lundberg voted to allow the gay pride transgender flag to be displayed in our classrooms,” Harshbarger said. “You look a little deeper and he killed a bill in committee that prohibits a woman from being able to sue a man for knowingly going into a women’s bathroom so he killed it dead so those are two examples.”
Lundberg says there is more to the story.
“When you talk about the Pride flag, there was no legislation that banned any flag. What it did, it said which flags you could fly in school, but you couldn’t fly the Don’t Tread on Me flag, you couldn’t fly the Betsy Ross flag, in Bristol you couldn’t fly the checkered flag,” Lundberg said. “This is not the kind of legislation we need.”
For the so-called bathroom bill, Lundberg said he did make a motion to send the bill to summer study only because as written it was too similar to previous legislation he voted for that was struck down by a federal judge.
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Harshbarger says he has not reached out to the senator directly to ask about his votes. Lundberg says he welcomes questions from any constituent.
“(They say) what’s the rationale, because if you know me you know there’s more to the story and once you explain it, they go, yes, that makes sense I get it,” Lundberg.
Still, Harshbarger says it’s time for a change. He says at nearly 20 years in office Lundberg has become a career politician more than a public servant to the people of East Tennessee.
“The fact of the matter is he forgets who he represents,” Harshbarger said.
This won’t be Harshbarger’s first bid for public office. He ran for Kingsport aldermen in 2021, and although it turned out to be an unsuccessful run, he earned the fourth most votes out of nine candidates vying for three seats.
Harshbarger grew up in Sullivan County and is a graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School. He completed his undergraduate studies at East Tennessee State University before earning a doctorate from Mercer University College of Pharmacy. He has two sons with his wife Erin.
Last year, Harshbarger was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy by Gov. Bill Lee.
The Republican primary will be held on Aug. 1 with early voting running from July 12 through July 27.
The general election will be held on Nov. 5.
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