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December 08, 2006
Battle for the General Assembly 2010
Never mind Rudy, Hillary, Brownback or Obama. Governor Phil's officially out of the running, so Tennessee's political minds are staying closer to home and looking at the 2008 legislative elections already.
Never mind that I haven't updated this site much since this year's go-round.
Never mind that the really hardcore strategists are actually working on plans beyond 2010, according to a senior staffer for one of our Congressmen. Yes, redistricting happens in just over 4 years; Republicans have 2 elections left in which to try and take full control of the General Assembly. In case you've forgotten what Coach Ironsides mumbled in Government class, state legislatures typically redraw the congressional district boundaries once a decade, after each constitutional census. I sure hope the John Tanner reform bill is in effect by then.
The GOP could probably coast on incumbency in 2010, if they could just get there in 2008. Tennessee Dems would be busy licking wounds and rethinking themselves. The national dynamic will be an interesting, if not overly significant (see: Bob Corker's 2006 win), input to this process. The open gubernatorial seat will as well. Expect the latter to be a big fight, or three (two primaries and the general).
In a way, there is quite a lot hanging on Sen. Mike Williams' January 2007 decision. I've stated before that I think each Senator's vote for Speaker (or for anything else) should be as an individual, not as a partisan. I just happen to disagree with Williams' apparent choice.
State House Elections , State Senate Elections | By joe lance | 06:54 PM