So you already knew about Mark Twain Clemens, a Bledsoe County resident who is challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Corker in the 2012 GOP primary.
But here’s another name that evokes the Nineteenth Century: one Grover Cleveland Mullins Jr. is running for the same seat. According to The Green Papers, Mullins is running as a Democrat.
This news makes me want to start a rumor that Andy Berke’s middle name is “Jackson.”
Brenda Lenard, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was recently interviewed at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by Kevin Jackson of TheTeaParty.net. Here’s the video:
At 3:29 in, Lenard uses the phrase “enough is enough.” That seems to be a developing theme in this year’s elections, as 3rd District congressional candidate Weston Wamp has adopted it as his campaign slogan. One difference, though: so far, Wamp has been fairly well in rhetorical lockstep with U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, while Lenard is running to defeat the state’s junior senator.
According to federal records, Lenard raised $19,391 in the fourth quarter of 2011 and had spent $16,759 by year end.
Here is your week in Tennessee and Chattanooga politics, going back to last Friday.
Weston Wamp unveiled his campaign slogan and a seven-point policy platform at Monday’s Pachyderm Club meeting. Coach Zach was on-hand.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield won a decisive victory against those who seek to recall him. Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth ordered the cancellation of the election that had been set by the Hamilton County Election Commission. But the recall group has 30 days to appeal, so unless you hear a curvy mezzo-soprano warbling off in the distance, don’t call this “over.”
The Hamilton County Commission reversed an earlier decision and decided to hand control of PILOT funds back to the Board of Education. That didn’t sit too well with Commissioner Fred Skillern.
In the Legislature, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill advanced in the Senate, while the House voted to evict Occupy Nashville from the Capitol grounds. Meanwhile, Governor Bill Haslam postponed his proposal to rescind average class size limits in Tennessee schools.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann introduced a bill that would freeze federal discretionary spending until 2021.
I was browsing the Scottie Mayfield campaign’s Facebook page and came across a logo whose color scheme elicited a two-word response: “Holy cow.” Take a wild guess as to the two colors.
Metro Nashville Council member Brady Banks was among those eyeing an open 20th District Senate seat. Then he went and got arrested as part of a prostitution sting.
Sen. Andy Berke held a town hall on Thursday in Chattanooga, and kept everyone wondering, still, about his electoral plans. The redrawn Senate district he serves has already attracted a GOP challenger in Rep. Vince Dean. Berke is “seriously considering” running for mayor of Chattanooga next year. Some were wondering if his would be the third announcement of a Democrat bowing out of the General Assembly this week, following Reps. Janis Sontany of Nashville and Bill Harmon of Dunlap.
The Chattanooga Tea Party announced that presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum will headline their Liberty Forum on Saturday, February 25. A location has yet to be announced, as Santorum’s recent rise in statewide and national polls has many potentially interested in checking him out.
Another prominent national figure in town soon is civil rights legend and U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta. Lewis will speak at a Hamilton County Democratic Party fundraiser on Saturday, February 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Olivet Baptist Church, 740 E. Martin Luther King Boulevard, Chattanooga. Registration for the event begins at 5:30.
Early voting for the March 6 elections began on Wednesday, and continues through the 28th. Hamilton County readers, don’t forget that there are primary elections for three local offices. Likewise, there’s a county mayor primary election in Anderson County, and in other locales. The point is, don’t just go into the voting booth to pick your presidential preference without doing some homework about other races that will be on the same ballot—such as, if you’re a Republican, the convention delegates.
Early voting for the March 6 Presidential Preference Primary starts today. For obvious reasons, your ballot may look quite different depending on which party’s primary you choose. The Democrats are ceremonially choosing President Barack Obama (though Chattanooga attorney John Wolfe is challenging Obama in this primary, he is not on the ballot in his home state); and the Republican ballot will feature a number of contenders, some of whom have dropped out of the race since the ballot was set.
But just after that section comes two more, if you’re voting in the Republican primary, that bear a little explanation. These are the delegate-candidates.
Let’s dig into what it all means. The Republican National Committee sets a number of delegates each state can send to the national convention. Tennessee gets 58 delegates. Party rules further stipulate that there will be three delegates each from the state’s congressional districts. Tennessee has nine districts; therefore 27 delegates are chosen this way.
There are also 28 at-large delegates. Half of these are chosen by the primary voters, and the other half are chosen by the state executive committee.
How does a person become a candidate to be one of these delegates? The simple answer is twofold: 1) be a bona fide Republican, and 2) convince 100 of your fellow Republicans to sign a nominating petition to get you on this ballot. (Incidentally, that number of signatures is four times what is required to be on the ballot for elective office, even statewide offices such as Governor and U.S. Senator, in this state.)
Delegate-candidates can declare an affiliation with a presidential candidate, or can run as uncommitted. The 2012 GOP race has fluctuated enough over the months that the only candidate who can boast a full slate of at least fourteen committed at-large delegates is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney; while former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has no committed delegates on this ballot, but nevertheless led in state and some national polls on the eve of early voting.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has ten at-large candidates (and one here in the 3rd District), but has left the race. (The party’s state executive committee has rules designed to deal with these issues.) (Updated to add: former presidential candidates can “release” committed delegates, else those delegates remain committed through two rounds of voting at the national convention. Thanks again to to Mark Winslow.)
But yes, you will want to vote for 14 at-large delegates and 3 district delegates (or use the convenient write-in sections if needed). The primary election is March 6, and early voting starts February 15. The state executive committee meeting is April 7 March 31. (SEC member Mark Winslow, who is an at-large delegate candidate committed to Newt Gingrich, provided the correct date.)
By contrast, the Democratic Party does not select any of its convention delegates by public election, but instead through a series of conventions: first local (at the county level), then by congressional district. To add to that, all Democratic party state leaders and certain elected officials are automatic delegates—you may remember the term “superdelegates” from the 2008 race—and are chosen simply by their attained status. Though there are some slight variations, state parties for the most part adopt the national party’s selection rules.
The county-level conventions for the Democrats’ delegate selection process will be held on March 10. Two weeks later, the congressional district conventions will take place, which will elect delegates to the national convention.
You may have figured out from the math above that the GOP has 3 delegates unaccounted-for among the congressional and at-large figures. That’s right: there are three remaining convention delegates that are automatic based on their leadership within the party. 27 congressional + 28 at-large + 3 party leaders = 58 Republican delegates.
Questions? Comments?
Update: more info on the Democratic Party’s process, thanks to the Tennessee Democratic Party
See also: Tennessee Republican Party Bylaws (PDF)
From the Tennessean’s “In Session” blog:
The Republican race in the 20th Senate District is shaping up to be a battle of the surprise losers from the 2010 election.
David Hall — the one that ran for Congress (we held this a day while we checked that it wasn’t his son, who lost the race for the state House of Representatives) — has declared he’ll vie for the nomination in August.
You remember Hall’s son. His election story inspired all those corny Van Halen puns. (But some might have said I was “On Fire” that day.)