(Kim Jarrett, The Center Square) Riley Gaines‘ father is entering the political arena with a run for a Tennessee congressional seat.
Brad Gaines is seeking the Sixth District congressional seat, which is currently occupied by John Rose, who is running for governor.
Gaines will face four Republicans in the 2026 primary. Johnny Garrett is a current member of the Tennessee House. William Van Hilleary is a former U.S. congressman who served as Rose’s chief of staff. Ronnie Dale Braden is an Army veteran who has worked in multiple industries. Joe Reid is a Crossville businessman.
Gaines filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission earlier this week and has a one-page website. He touts his history as a football player in high school and at Vanderbilt University. The website does not list a platform.
Riley Gaines is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who competed in the 2022 NCAA Championships in Atlanta.
She lost the competition to a University of Pennsylvania swimmer who previously spent three years on the men’s team. Riley Gaines has lobbied for bills in several states that would prevent transgender females from competing in women’s sports.
Georgia lawmakers passed the Riley Gaines Act, which bars males and females from competing on teams designated for the opposite gender. It also requires restrooms and changing areas that can be used by more than one student to be limited to one gender.
One Democrat, Mike Croley, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. Unaffiliated candidate Christopher Brian Monday has also filed.
