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August 15, 2007
Senate District 4 Race Underway (Already)
The 2008 election cycle includes, in addition to the White House race, one-third of the 100 seats in the United States Senate; the full 435-member US House; roughly one-half of the Tennessee Senate (all the even-numbered seats, of 33 total); and the Tennessee House of Representatives in toto (99 seats).
Never mind that December is four months away. (December and January are months typically heavy in fundraising for the state legislative races.) Under cover of the long-ranging presidential campaign, we are free to start hyping local and state races whenever we please. Besides, it will give us something else to talk about besides whether or not the "fair tax" people were responsible for Mike Huckabee's second-place Ames "victory" or whether or not Ron Paul's seeming swarms of internet fanatics will transubstantiate into actual votes.
As a precursor to the new Tennessee Ticket voter guides, let's go ahead and get started talking about the state Senate, which, at a 16-16-1 tie, is arguably the most contested of all four houses mentioned above.
And let's not go in numerical district order, because recent activity is underway that directly addresses the "1," i.e. tie-breaking independent, Sen. Micheal Williams of Maynardville.
So, District 4: Everyone remembers that Williams, after voting for former Lt. Gov. John Wilder in the previous General Assembly, actually did vote for a Republican Speaker this last time around—but soon after, he switched his affiliation from GOP to Independent. Even before he did that, there was talk of a 2008 primary challenge by disgruntled Republicans. One name came up more often than others, and sure enough, it's now official: attorney Mike Faulk of Church Hill has announced his intention to run for the seat.
Faulk has experience at several levels of government, including a six-year stint on the Tennessee Human Rights Commission. (He was appointed by then-Gov. Lamar Alexander, for whom Faulk had been a local campaign director.) He will also enjoy tremendous support from the state party as they attempt to regain this seat.
I confess that I'm not very familiar with the Cumberland Gap area, politically or otherwise. (Somehow I doubt that numerous stops at the "417" truck stop in Dandridge count for much.) Church Hill, whence hails Faulk, is geographically opposite Maynardville in the current district boundaries. I invite those who are familiar with this district to leave comments as to the political makeup, and how they prognosticate the race, at least at this point in the game.
Yesterday, several blogs jumped on the fact that Mike Faulk's campaign site had perhaps been launched in haste, as the editors didn't update boilerplate text that may have come with a template, and at any rate was almost identical to language on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's page. I don't consider this a big deal.
I'm personally interested in learning more about Senator Williams and his choice to become Independent. As a fellow Independent, I am curious about what his strategy for re-election will be (assuming that he plans to run). I'll keep you updated with what I find out.
State Senate Elections | By joe lance | 10:42 AM