« That's his name, and you wore it out | Main | A guide to Chattanooga area elections »
October 27, 2008
State Senate roundup, part two
It's past time to pick up where we left off the other day. There's little time to waste on introductions, so here we go.
District 18: Incumbent Senator Diane Black (R) faces Democratic challenger Jim Hawkins.
District 20: Incumbent Senator Joe Haynes (D) faces Republican challenger David Hall.
These two seats, represented as they are by the parties' respective caucus chairs, seem safe for the incumbents. But don't tell Hawkins, who is the beneficiary of a whole lot of Democratic party dollars and support.
District 22: For every Mike Williams, there is an equal and opposite Rosalind Kurita. Or something like that. The Tennessee Democratic Party, upset by Sen. Kurita's deciding vote for new Speaker Ron Ramsey, tried to unseat her in August by running a primary challenger against her. That election's outcome was very close (19 votes), and so the losing candidate contested -- not to election officials, but to the state party.
Long story short, the party overturned the election results, and now Tim Barnes is the Democratic nominee for this election. Not one to give up without a fight, Kurita began a write-in campaign, which technically makes her an independent. So, in the same election year, we have a former Republican (Williams) running as an Independent who's supported by Democrats; and we have a (not former?) Democratic Senator (Kurita) running as an Independent (write-in) who gets quite a bit of support from Republicans; and each is on the outs with his/her own party due to a vote for Speaker that the party didn't appreciate.
Now, in terms of control of the upper house: what happens if Williams and Kurita both win their elections? I'm picturing a square dance for some reason, thinking about the committee assignments and other alignments.
District 24: Incumbent Senator Roy Herron (D) is unopposed.
District 26: This is one of the few open seats, held for a very long time by former Lt. Gov. John Wilder, a Democrat and, many say, an institution unto himself. Republicans have been talking about the conservative shift of this district's rural voters since well before it was known for sure that Wilder would retire. They want this one, and a bird's-eye view from here says that they might get it, although it remains close. The GOP recruited a sitting House member, Rep. Delores Gresham, while the Democratic primary yielded Randy Camp. The ensuing campaign has become one of the most heated in the state, and has drawn attention from several blogs that have a national focus.
In contrast to several of the above, there's no movement in the Shelby County area:
District 28: Incumbent Senator Jim Kyle (D) is unopposed.
District 30: Incumbent Senator Beverly Marrero (D) is unopposed.
District 32: Incumbent Senator Mark Norris (R) is unopposed.
There's more analysis today from Truman Bean.
(Note: Again, many thanks are due TennViews for compiling the candidate data in a handy, usable way.)
State Senate Elections | By joe lance | 10:23 PM