Enjoyed meeting democrats in Knoxville this morning at Shoney's on Western Ave. Chip Forrester to be featured speaker. A large crowd.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, of Blountville:
In Clarksville today. Meeting with officers from Fort Campbell and veterans groups. Taking part in a parade. Looking forward to a good day.
I will be meeting with one or more candidates here in Chattanooga in the next week or two.
]]>The candidates are:
(Corrected start time.)
]]>"Really enjoyed the Blount education forum tonight. The BEI is a great example of grassroots movement in support of education." — @BillHaslam
"Big day in E Tn-raised 175K tnght in Knox w/ John Rich who came to Blount 4 education evt. Will hve enough money 2 win/make Tn even better!" — @zachwamp
Hat tip: Brian Hornback
]]>It is debatable whether voters in populous counties like Shelby, Davidson, or Hamilton, which have partisan elections for all but school board posts (the latter being limited to nonpartisanship by state law), possibly benefit from having primaries. (However, if elected positions like Trustee, Court Clerk, and Register of Deeds—I mean, come on: Register of Deeds—were stripped of their party labels, that might change.)
Small and mid-sized counties certainly do not need to take on this cost, and so I approve of the Putnam County Commission's actions. Be sure to read all the comments at Post Politics.
]]>That said, there may be a way for a candidate to influence the hearts and minds of those most likely to encourage their friends and supporters to vote in a primary: by sending cash.
The Hill published a story about the variety of ways current members of Congress are using their federal campaign accounts when running for state or other offices. Some are allowed to simply transfer the money to another campaign account, but state laws vary on this practice. Some have to get creative, like U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), who are refunding money to donors in hopes of getting it sent right back to their gubernatorial campaigns.
Among the shrewdest moves, perhaps, is this one:
In Tennessee, gubernatorial candidate Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) has sent $22,000 to the state Republican Caucus. He also sent smaller donations to four county Republican parties and Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), among several other House colleagues.
The article doesn't say which four county parties were the recipients, but one can reasonably assume that they include Shelby and Hamilton; Williamson is another likely target, I would think. And by giving to the Republican Caucus, Rep. Wamp is issuing a direct challenge to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey for the title of "it's me vs. Haslam."
]]>If politicians and school officials here don't stop trying to economize by using outdated mid-20th Century approaches to educating children, Sen. Herron warned, there's no way those young people can acquire the strong math and science skills they will need to succeed in the highly competitive 21st Century economy.]]>
Former Rep. Brian Kelsey, who recently resigned his House seat in a move designed to keep it from potentially being filled by a Democrat-controlled Shelby County Commission, is considered a heavy favorite for the Senate seat. At the very least, he faces no viable primary opposition, as his House colleague Rep. Steve McManus decided not to run.
The general election for the Senate District 31 seat will be held on December 1, the same day a primary will be held for Kelsey's former District 83 House seat. Kelsey will face Democratic Party member Adrienne Pakis-Gillon.
There are quite a few candidates in the Memphis special election, but unless something strange happens, the likely winner is current Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton. We'll know tonight.
The Senate primary is a waste of time, since there is only one candidate in each party. But it is a legislative election, according to the law, and that is why it gets a mention on this blog today.
Related: Jackson Baker (via A.C. Kleinheider) names some potential candidates for the House District 83 seat, and a whole lot more.
]]>When [Curt Cobb] told me he was stepping down, I [Rep. Mike Turner] asked him who he was going to get to take his place, and he said, ‘I’ve got a man who’s more popular than I am.’ And I said, ‘Who?’ And he said, ‘My brother.’ I said, ‘Sounds good to me.’ And we kind of went from there.
...just doesn't sound like a solid plan, given the stakes for the recent House District 62 special election, as perceived by those in, you know, the business.
(Readers will recall some mention of Marsh's political androgyny.)
Which ones did I forget?
Oh, and I hope to have some serious commentary in the near future. Thanks for indulging me the moment of levity.
]]>More political observers than I can list or link here have pointed out that control of the next General Assembly means having the upper hand in the next redistricting round, when all state and federal legislative districts will be redrawn.
Some say that that pressure, taken with a virtual tie among Democrats and Republicans in the House, makes this a critical test for state party leaders Chip Forrester and Chris Devaney. Such is the combined opinion of Rep. Stacey Campfield and Nashville Scene writer Jeff Woods, as reported by Tom Humphrey.
However, David Oatney cautions us not to see this election as a bellwether for the 2010 cycle.
Whatever the case, it will probably be a long time before voters in Bedford County and the other areas in District 62 see this much attention placed on their state House seat.
The candidates are:
Chris Brown (I (Constitution))
Ty Cobb II (D)
Pat Marsh (R)
I'll put up links to election results tonight.
]]>I'll gladly surrender my two-cents share of the monetary prize in return for recognition of my role.
Also: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must feel doubly robbed right now.
]]>We met at a local Starbucks last Wednesday. Campaign aide Jed "Meat and Three" Brewer was along for the ride. (Full disclosure: none of us actually had coffee. I enjoyed a white tea, while my two guests drank bottled water.)
Even though I have a fairly good grasp of the Volunteer State's political demography, I sometimes still wonder aloud, as I did then, that almost all of the Democratic candidates for governor come from West Tennessee, and that the Republicans, by contrast, hail from East Tennessee. Mike McWherter calibrated my knowledge by stating that it is rural Middle Tennessee that historically holds the deepest Democratic Party support.
I started the "official" part of the meeting with a question about jobs (as no reasonable candidate fails to mention job creation as a top priority). I asked whether McWherter's focus would be on attracting more new businesses to the state, or working to create and/or sustain homegrown operations. He said that he would be committed to maintaining businesses that have already either started or moved here, by assessing what they need and working to provide it. He echoed comments I noted earlier about broadband internet being today's infrastructure equivalent of what roads were "twenty years ago."
]]> We talked for a moment about the "smart grid" technology being rolled out in the Chattanooga area by EPB, and Brewer reminded me that McWherter is a board member of Jackson, Tennessee's public utility (JEA), which has its own similar (including broadband) initiative. McWherter says that it is a combination of programs like these with existing providers (such as AT&T and Comcast) that will deliver the widespread access needed to support business growth in the state.I then asked if, as a pro-business candidate and a CEO himself, he anticipates any friction with organized labor, which is one of his party's bastions of support. He stated that he has met with labor leaders across the state about how they can work together. He went on to emphasize that he supports Tennessee's "Right to Work" law, and feels that it (along with the absence of a state income tax) is a major advantage toward attracting employers. He said that labor organizations, such as the Tennessee Education Association, are great policy communication vehicles, and in that regard, he views them as a positive influence.
I had asked TennesseeTicket readers to submit questions for this interview. The following are excerpted from the questions submitted.
Do you support a proposed ban on unmarried (including gay) couples adopting children?
McWherter does support the ban, and feels that having parents of the opposite sex is better for a child. He says that the Department of Children's Services reports to the governor, so as governor, he would be responsible for children in need of this service. I followed up by asking if he felt that foster care by an opposite-sex couple was better than adoption by a same-sex couple, and he said that he did.
Are you more like Al Gore or Phil Bredesen?
(Emphatically) "Phil Bredesen."
]]>The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has honored the Tennessee General Assembly with its Online Democracy Award for the best legislative Web site in the country. The annual award recognizes a legislature, legislative chamber or caucus whose Web site stands out for making democracy user-friendly.The Tennessee Web site, www.capitol.tn.gov, stood out for its ease of navigation, depth of content and openness, and availability of information to the public. Key features of Tennessee's Web site that contributed to this year's award include:
* Prominent educational resources;
* Well-organized information;
* A simple, fresh design;
* Integration of archived streaming video clips with agendas and bill information.
I know I have not said enough to give the General Assembly credit for the overhaul, so let this post be an installment on that debt.
UPDATE: Knoxville News-Sentinel reporter and blogger Michael Silence points out an embarrassing fact about the whole "openness" thing. (HT: Post Politics)
]]>