David Frank Kustoff was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8, 1966, and raised in Shelby County, Tennessee. He graduated from Memphis' White Station High School in 1985. Kustoff attended the University of Memphis, graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1989. He then attended the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, graduating in 1992. In 1998, Kustoff opened a law firm with Jim Strickland, whom he met at the University of Memphis. Both would become active in Tennessee politics; Strickland was elected Mayor of Memphis in 2015.
Early politics
Kustoff became active in politics during the 1990s, in which he was chair of the Republican Party of Shelby County. He served as George W. Bush's campaign chairman in Tennessee during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. On August 8, 2002, he was named as campaign chairman for Lamar Alexander's 2002 Senate campaign. In December 2002, he criticized Senate Minority LeaderTrent Lott for his praise of Strom Thurmond for the harm that it would do to Republican outreach to minorities. In 2002, Representative Ed Bryant announced that he would not seek reelection and would instead run in the Republican primary for the Senate election. On April 3, Kustoff announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for the Seventh district to succeed Bryant and in the Republican primary he received 20.24% of the vote and performed the best in the Memphis area, but was defeated by State Senator Marsha Blackburn who won with a plurality of 40.32%. During the primary campaign Kustoff stated that he had an A+ rating from the NRA when in actuality the NRA had never given him a rating.
United States Attorney
In 2006, President Bush nominated Kustoff for the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. During his tenure in office, Kustoff prosecuted the Operation Tennessee Waltz, after which John Ford, a prominent Tennessee politician, and others were sent to prison. Kustoff also worked to reduce crime in the Memphis area, joining a group of Memphis leaders and law enforcement officials called Operation Safe Community. Kustoff resigned as U.S. Attorney shortly before the 2008 election and chose to return to his private practice.
House
In February 2016, Stephen Fincher announced that he would not run for re-election in Tennessee's 8th congressional district. Kustoff announced his campaign in February, and began to emerge from the crowded pack when he was endorsed by former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who filmed ads for Kustoff and campaigned with him. He narrowly won the primary with a plurality of 27.45% with Shelby County Commissioner George Flinn behind with 23.08%. Kustoff faced Democratic nominee Rickey Hobson, a Delta Air Lines manager and Somerville, Tennessee resident. Kustoff visited the district's 15 counties and urged skeptical Republicans to support Donald Trump for the presidency. Kustoff defeated Hobson in the general election. During the 2018 elections George Flinn mounted a primary challenge against Kustoff and spent millions against him, but Kustoff won with 56.00% against Flinn's 39.67%. Kustoff is a member of the Republican Study Committee.
Political positions
National security
Kustoff supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that “I believe President Trump is putting American safety first, and I will encourage a long-term plan that is consistent with the values and compassion on which our great nation was founded.”
Health care
Kustoff voted for the American Health Care Act in May 2017. "ur current health care system is failing Tennesseans", he said afterwards. Later that month, a woman angrily confronted him about that vote during a town hall meeting at the University of Tennessee at Martin; after the meeting ended and Kustoff along with some of his staff got into their car, she gave chase and allegedly attempted to run them off the road, then confronted them again about Kustoff's vote, reportedly banging on the windows of his car in the process. Police later arrested her on a felony charge of reckless endangerment.
