Lt. Gov. Randy McNally weathers caucus confidence vote

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

The Senate Republican Caucus voted 19-7 in a closed meeting Monday in favor of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s continued leadership of the Senate.

The vote followed a flurry of local and national media attention focused on the Oak Ridge Republican’s supportive comments on a young gay man’s Instagram page.

“I have always been honored, humbled and grateful for the support of my caucus,” McNally said via a spokesperson. “I remain so today. We have a lot of important work left to do as we complete the legislative session, including the budget. I look forward to getting to it.”

The 79-year-old was first elected Senate speaker in 2017 and was reelected to another two-year term at the start of this year. He was first elected to the state House in

1978 and later the Senate in 1986. Earlier this year, McNally was hospitalized with a heart condition.

Critics on the left have called McNally hypocritical for leading a body that has passed legislation restricting drag and trans health care, among other anti-LGBTQ positions. But McNally strenuously denied in a statement earlier this month that his record was anti-gay.

“Again, conservative and ‘anti-gay’ are not synonymous,” he said. “Though I may disagree with specific policies of certain LGBTQ activists, all people are deserving of love and compassion, no matter their race, gender, or any other attribute.”

Some on the right have taken the opportunity to question whether McNally was too strict on COVID-19 response policies.

State Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), a backbencher and ally of ousted House speaker and onetime McNally antagonist Glen Casada, went so far as to call McNally a “predator” and demand his resignation.

Since the social media comments starting drawing attention, some outside conservative groups have pushed for McNally to be replaced, perhaps by Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta). Bailey denied in an interview with the Post last week that he was rallying support for himself to replace McNally. However, the Tennessee Journal later reported that he was calling colleagues to gauge their interest in a potential candidacy for leadership.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.