Nashville-based orthopedic trauma surgeon Manni Sethi, MD, was defeated Aug. 8 in the U.S. Senate Republican primary in Tennessee by fellow conservative Bill Hagerty, The Tennessean reports.
With the backing of President Donald Trump, Mr. Hagerty secured almost 51 percent of the vote. Dr. Sethi took just under 40 percent.
"We went 12 rounds with the establishment, folks, but we came up short," Dr. Sethi said, according to The Tennessean. Despite the loss, he insisted "the conservative movement moves forward" and "this fight's not over."
Dr. Sethi stepped down as president and CEO of Nashville.-based nonprofit Healthy Tennessee in September to focus on his campaign, which centered around repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, addressing the opioid epidemic and tackling illegal immigration along the southern U.S. border.