Judge denies former Tennessee Rep. Scotty Campbell's lawsuit for sexual harassment records

Robby Starbuck, a Franklin Republican, runs for Congress in Nashville with Rand Paul's endorsement

Natalie Allison
Nashville Tennessean

Franklin Republican Robby Starbuck is entering the race for Nashville's congressional district, now with an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.

Starbuck, 32, a California transplant who moved with his wife and children to Williamson County two years ago, said he plans to run in Tennessee's 5th congressional district currently held by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat.

The U.S. Constitution does not require candidates to live in the congressional district of the seat they're seeking. Starbuck said he intends to purchase another home in Nashville.

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"I'm in Nashville pretty much every day," said Starbuck, who believes his Cuban heritage and plans to campaign in areas of the city previously neglected by Republicans will provide in-roads with Latino residents and other minorities in the district. 

Robby Starbuck, a Republican candidate for Congress

"I have an opportunity to connect with groups of people that traditionally have not felt outreach," Starbuck said, noting success Republicans in 2020 found with reaching immigrants in South Florida and South Texas. 

His mother and grandparents left Cuba for the United States in the 1960s, he said.

Starbuck, who is active online and boasts 188,000 followers on Twitter, has made opposition to socialism part of his campaign platform, as well as other recent hot-button conservative issues like critical race theory. He said he faced pushback after he "came out as a Republican" in Hollywood and began posting on social media about his beliefs in 2015, though Starbuck has managed to build a sizable following of online conservatives.

Cooper has represented the majority Democratic district since 2002.

"I think it's a fight worth having," Starbuck said of his decision to run in the district. "In Tennessee, we're also seeing a migration of people leaving states that are failing and are ready for change in their own lives. Some of whom have voted Democrat their entire lives."

The GOP hasn't cracked 40% of the district's vote in the general election since 2010, when David Hall ran against Cooper.

Republican Quincy McKnight has also announced a run for the seat, while Democrat Odessa Kelly's campaign is underway to challenge Cooper from the left.

The district could be altered when congressional maps are re-drawn and re-approved by the state legislature at the beginning of 2022, however.

"I know the one thing people are going to say about me is 'His house isn't here,'" Starbuck said. "Jim Cooper's house may not be in the new district either. 

"It's very possible my farm could end up in the district and his house could not end up in the district."

Starbuck said he has not aware of what Tennessee Republicans' plans are for re-drawing the district and has "no interest in meddling about what it will be."

Republican leaders haven't publicly ruled out dividing Nashville into multiple congressional districts, something that was discussed a decade ago but did not occur.

Starbuck receives Rand Paul's second Tennessee endorsement in a year

A former director and producer of music videos and commercials, Starbuck said he currently is an investor in real estate and the stock market.

He said if the race calls for it, Starbuck is prepared to personally loan his campaign money.

Starbuck's endorsement by Paul, a Kentucky senator, follows a recent friendship between the two. It started when they found each other online, and Paul has appeared on Starbuck's online show.

In a video shared by Starbuck, who does not have a campaign staff and said he has no immediate plans to hire a consultant or manager, Paul said Starbuck would vote for limited government and against "endless wars."

"I don't endorse many people for Congress, but i'm endorsing Robby Starbuck because he's one of the good guys," said Paul, who also backed Manny Sethi in his unsuccessful Republican primary bid last year against Bill Hagerty for U.S. Senate. 

Starbuck, whose legal name is Robby Newsom, said he is currently in talks with his lawyer about whether he will need to legally change his last name to appear as Starbuck, his middle name, on the ballot.

He joked that he has "no relation" to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Starbuck and his family moved to the state from Calabasas after wanting to live in an area with people more closely aligned with their values.

His wife, Landon Newsom, is a musician who performs under the name Matriarch and is also outspoken online about conservative issues. The couple has three children.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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