Category Archives: TN House Elections

GOP aspirants eye East Hamilton prize

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Although redistricting plans have not yet been made fully public in Tennessee, a few potential candidates in Hamilton County have begun the arduous process of cautiously staking out what they believe (likely on good authority) will be new territory: an open Tennessee House of Representatives district in the eastern part of the county. Given the demographic makeup of the area, such a district would almost certainly be solidly Republican.

Among those the grapevine suggests might be interested are Mike Carter, a former General Sessions Judge, assistant to former County Mayor Claude Ramsey, and 2011 candidate to replace Ramsey; Wes Kliner, an attorney and former election commissioner; Ray Minner, an educator whose political forays include twice narrowly missing being elected to the Collegedale City Commission; and Robin Smith, former Tennessee Republican Party chair and 2010 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. (It’s not clear whether the new district boundaries would include Smith’s residence; and she is still reportedly deciding whether a rematch with U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is her 2012 focus.)

Attempts to confirm these and other active rumors are underway, and updates will be posted as more information becomes available. In the meantime, let me be clear that the above is simply hearsay at the moment, and is not intended as breaking news. It’s just what we sometimes like to talk about here.

UPDATE 11/23: Robin Smith does not live in the proposed new district, so strike her from the list. Also, there is another potential candidate—more to come.

All I wanna do is serve on a House subcommittee

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Sheryl Crow for Tennessee House of Representatives?

That’s the long-shot idea proposed by Tennessee Equality Project’s Chris Sanders. Crow lives in Williamson County, one of the toniest in the nation.

With redistricting still not finalized, one can’t be sure, but there’s a chance a hypothetical Crow candidacy would face this guy, who’s already been made aware that a new district will include Franklin, Fairview, and Spring Hill.

Its probably not going to happen, but if she did run, and did serve in the House, Crow might discover a new meaning for the phrase “the difficult kind.”

After Ulysses, Kerry on

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Kerry Roberts, of Tennessee’s Springfield (there’s one in every state), won the Senate District 18 election with 8,827 votes to Portland Mayor Ken Wilber’s 4,316, according to unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s website. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who had endorsed William Slater in the primary, came to Roberts’ aid in the general election with personal and PAC donations. Ramsey congratulated Roberts Tuesday night in a press release.

“I’m very proud of Kerry Roberts tonight,” said Lt. Gov. Ramsey. “Despite strong opposition by government employee unions, Kerry was able to come away with a decisive victory.”

“Kerry is a strong conservative who focused his campaign on job creation and low taxes in Robertson and Sumner counties. He will be a strong asset in the state Senate.”

Ramsey also assigned Roberts to three Senate committees: General Welfare, Health & Human Resources; Environment, Conservation, and Tourism; and Government Operations.

In the state House, Antonio “2 Shay” Parkinson was officially selected to serve District 98. Parkinson was unopposed on the general election ballot, as only Democrats had filed to run. Though there apparently was a write-in campaign by Artie Smith, Parkinson garnered 98 percent of the vote.

Here’s a poem titled “After Ulysses.”

Special election today

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The polls have just opened in Tennessee House of Representatives District 98 and Tennessee Senate District 18. Today’s election is a primary, but as each district heavily favors one party, it is very likely (certain in House 98) that the winner will be chosen today. The general election for Senate District 18 is March 4.

Click here to see who’s running in the House District 98 Democratic primary.

Click here to see who’s running in the Senate District 18 Republican primary.

Special election update: House District 98

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The death of a House member and the election to Congress of a state Senator have resulted in a special election being set for the 8th of March. However, in at least one of the two races, the decision will be made in just over two weeks, in the primary that will be held on Thursday, the 20th of January.

Four Democrats have filed to replace the late Rep. Ulysses Jones in the 98th District:

The Shelby County Commission could have named an interim representative to fill the seat until the special election. For whatever reason, they postponed that decision until the 24th. The primary winner will be known by then (one assumes), so that person will be named the interim representative until the general election—in which no Republicans nor independents qualified—makes it official. A few of those running in the election had also expressed interest in the appointment, so the timing change solves the potential problem of an unfair advantage being held by the appointee.

Sources in the area say Parkinson may have the organization and funds to win, but that the whole election is “being totally overshadowed by” the Memphis City Schools charter surrender vote, and that Gatewood’s proximity to the issue may raise her visibility. Others have heard that some legislators are “quietly helping Oats-Williams.” Whichever candidate is elected will serve nearly a full term until the 2012 elections.

Early voting begins tomorrow (Tuesday, 4 January 2011).