Two veteran Republican Tennessee lawmakers from East Tennessee lost re-election bids while a first-term Democratic state House legislator from Memphis fell in last week’s primary election. Rep. John Crawford, a 10-year legislator and chairman of the State and Local Government Committee from Sullivan County, was defeated by Jessica Means by a vote count of 4,021, 61%, to 2,574, 39%, in the House District 1 race, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial count. Means, a homeschool parent, captured the primary despite political attack ads claiming Democrats funded her campaign and accusing her of backing “higher taxes and open borders,” all…
Author: Sam Stockard
NASHVILLE, TN — In a race to capture the newly-drawn 7th Congressional District seat in Tennessee, state Rep. Vincent Dixie and businessman Darden Copeland are taking slightly different strategies in the Democratic primary with the ultimate goal of unseating the Republican incumbent. Dixie, who represents House District 54 in northern Davidson County, and Copeland, a former political operative who owns Calvert Street Group public affairs firm, started running after the Tennessee legislature voted to redraw congressional districts, at President Donald Trump’s request, on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights…
A Tennessee House Democrat expelled from the Legislature for helping lead an anti-gun rally is continuing a legal battle against the Republican House speaker, saying his constitutional rights are being violated. Rep. Justin Jones of House District 52 in Nashville filed a memorandum in U.S. District Court on Dec. 30 amending his complaint against Speaker Cameron Sexton and three House staff members, challenging a motion they filed to dismiss the case. In addition to Sexton, Jones filed the lawsuit against House Chief Clerk Tammy Letzler, Chief Sergeant at Arms Bobby Trotter, and House Assistant Chief Clerk Daniel Hicks, saying they…
With support from Metro Nashville’s mayor, two Republican lawmakers are sponsoring a measure designed to handcuff hate groups such as those that targeted a synagogue and marched in Nashville last year. Notably, it prohibits the transport of people in box trucks, such as the rental vehicles used to carry neo-Nazi groups to Nashville locations, and gives police more latitude to charge people with violating the law. But one First Amendment expert said the bill is on “constitutional thin ice” even though California adopted a similar law. “It’s important to remember that hate speech is completely protected by the First Amendment…