NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV-AP) -
The chairman of the Tennessee Conservative Union has called on Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais to resign after reports that include the congressman once urged a mistress to terminate a pregnancy.
Chairman Lloyd Daugherty said in a release on Tuesday that DesJarlais' actions have "reached a level of hypocrisy that is simply untenable."
DesJarlais, who opposes abortion rights, has argued he was using strong language to try to pressure the woman to admit she was not pregnant. The woman had also been under DesJarlais' care as a Jasper physician.
DesJarlais' campaign manager Brandon Lewis sought to discredit Daugherty on Tuesday, stating in an email that he is "neither genuinely conservative or Republican."
However, the chairman of the state Democratic Party is continuing to call for the congressman to resign.
"DesJarlais ran his medical practice like a Craigslist cathouse, and now he's mad that people are upset about it," said Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester.
The DesJarlais campaign released an internal poll Monday that indicates the voters might not care about the scandal. Their numbers show DesJarlais with a 13-point lead over his opponent, State Sen. Eric Stewart, D-Belvidere.
The polling memo also says DesJarlais has an 11-point lead with people who have heard about the phone conversations in which the congressman pressures a pregnant mistress to have an abortion.
Democrats dispute those numbers and say they have momentum in this race.
"We think this has had a dramatic effect on this campaign. As voters come to know that he had sex with two patients, that we know of, we're seeing a change in the 4th Congressional District," Forrester said.
Copyright WSMV 2012 (Meredith Corporation). The Associated Press contributed to this report.
