Layman's Terms

Layman's Terms Advocacy Update: 2020 Election Preview

Insurors Director of Government Relations, Jim Layman, J.D., breaks down the legal and legislative issues facing our industry.

Election Day is right around the corner on Tuesday, November 3, so I wanted to take an opportunity to highlight a few of the most important races.

U.S. Presidential Election As you may have noticed, we are in the middle of a presidential election. If recent history, polling, and nearly unanimous analysts are correct, Tennessee’s 11 electoral votes will go to President Trump. What will be more interesting to watch though will be states like North Carolina, Florida and Michigan where Trump won in 2016, but where polling suggests a tight race in 2020. If the President loses Florida or two states out of NC, MI, PA & WI, his path to victory gets very difficult.

U.S. Senate In a closely watched and frequently negative primary campaign, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty, beat out Dr. Manny Sethi for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Republican Lamar Alexander. For all the interest in that race, the most surprising result on Tennessee’s primary night was when Memphis activist Marquita Bradshaw bested favorite James Mackler (who finished third) and Robin Kimbrough to take the Democratic nomination. Bradshaw spent about $21,000 on her longshot bid while Mackler spent over $1.4 million. Analysts around the country have Lamar Alexander’s seat as solidly Republican but it will be interesting nevertheless to see how the race unfolds given the unexpected primary result. State Senate One seat Tennessee Democrats are most hopeful to gain is District 20 in Nashville. Sen. Steve Dickerson – seeking his third term – is often seen as a very pragmatic Republican in representing a district in which all of the accompanying House districts are occupied by Democrats. Democrats are confident they have a competitive candidate in Heidi Campbell, the current Mayor of the affluent Nashville neighborhood, Oak Hill. Republicans like their chances as well, as Dickerson won by 12 points over Erin Coleman in 2016. This will be an interesting race to follow.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, who represents parts of Chattanooga and Bradley counties, faces a serious general election opponent in Chattanooga Assistant Chief of Police Glenn Scruggs. Gardenhire, also seeking his third term, has historically relied upon overwhelming margins in the Bradley County portion of his district to ensure re-election. Gardenhire won by 11 points in 2016 over Khristy Wilkinson, but the result may prove closer in 2020.

Other Senate races should be fairly comfortable victories for incumbents, but Democrats have put forth legitimate candidates in District 22 represented by Sen. Bill Powers (RClarksville), District 6 represented by Sen. Becky Massey (RKnoxville), and District 14 represented by Sen. Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro) among others. The Senate will welcome a new face in District 26 where Republican nominee Page Walley is favored against Democrat Civil Miller-Watkins in the election to replace retiring Senator Dolores Gresham (RSomerville).

State House House Democrats have their eye on flipping a number of seats as they try to claw their way back from their current super minority position of only holding 26 of the Chamber’s 99 seats. Conversely, Republicans have a few districts they believe they can turn red in this last election before redistricting occurs in 2022. Let’s take a look at a few of the more competitive races:

In District 97 in the Bartlett area of Memphis, veteran Republican lawmaker Jim Coley is retiring. After a narrow loss in 2018, Democrats believe they have a chance of flipping this seat. The contest will feature Democrat Gabby Salinas who ran a competitive campaign against Republican Senator Brian Kelsey in 2018 and is known for her story as an immigrant cancer survivor who now works for St. Jude. Republican John Gillespie, a native Memphian and grant coordinator, will hope to keep the seat red.

Also in Memphis in District 96, Patricia Possel hopes to flip a once red Cordova district back to the Republicans as she faces two-term Democrat Dwayne Thompson. Thompson surprised many when he narrowly defeated Republican Steve McManus in 2016 and Republicans see an opportunity this year to get the seat back. The result should be close.

On the other side of the state, a closely watched race is shaping up in District 18 on the west side of Knoxville between Republican Eddie Mannis and Democrat Virginia Couch to replace the retiring Republican Rep. Martin Daniel. Many were surprised when Daniel narrowly won reelection in 2018, and Democrats believe they have a strong chance, so it will be one to look out for.

Other races with incumbents that may be close include: District 82 with Rep. Chris Hurt (R-Halls), District 83 with Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis), and District 56 with Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville). The House will also see new representatives in Districts 3, 6, 7, 16, 76 and 92 due to retirements and incumbent primary losses.

Finally, we’ll be watching to see what happens in District 90 represented by Rep. John DeBerry (D-Memphis) who was removed from the Democratic primary ballot after failing to follow his party on abortion and school voucher legislation. He is now running as an independent against Democrat Torrey Harris.

About the Author

Jim Layman, J.D. is the Director of Government Relations for Insurors. He previously worked for the Tennessee Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services as legislative liaison and rules coordinator. Prior to that, he worked for the Dept. of Health as a legislative liaison and the Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development as director of unemployment insurance appeals. Jim graduated from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee. He may be contacted at jlayman@insurors.org. u

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Association Update

15 Best Practices 2020 Agencies in Tennessee

Insurors members have again achieved recognition as some of the top performing agencies in the country by the Big "I" Best Practices program. Each year, agencies provide metrics that are then compared to other agencies across the country for strategy and implementation. This year's achievers included the following Insurors members:

Athens Insurance of Athens, BFS Insurance Group of Clarksville, Brock Insurance of Chattanooga, Collier Insurance of Memphis, Hatchett Insurance Agency/HUB of Winchester, Higgins Insurance of Clarksville, Insurance Group of America of Franklin, Insurefit RM of Knoxville, Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance of Memphis, McDaniel-Whitley of Germantown, Montgomery & Associates Insurance of Franklin, Powell & Meadows Insurance of Carthage, The Crichton Group/HUB of Nashville, Scott Insurance of Knoxville and TIS Insurance Services of Knoxville.

Insurors Members Included in "Top 100"

The Insurance Journal magazine just release their 2020 edition of the "Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agencies" report. The Top 100 list is ranked by total property/casualty agency revenue and comprises only those agencies whose business is primarily retail, not wholesale. The list featured 8 Insurors members, including (in the order listed) HUB International, AssuredPartners Inc., BroadStreet Partners Inc., Risk Strategies, Sunstar Insurance Group, Scott Insurance, Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance Inc., and Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance.

Ross Joins Haven Insurance Partners

Don Ross, CPIA, CWCA, LUTCF has joined Haven Insurance Partners in Jackson as a principal and producer. Ross has over 28 years of experience in the insurance industry, and most recently worked as an agent for FSB Insurance in Jackson for almost 20 years.

Will Sneed Joins Sneed Insurance

Will Sneed has joined the sales team at Sneed Insurance in Memphis. Sneed previously worked the last seven years as a regional sales representative for B-Unlimited in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas.

Frank E. Neal Acquired by Brown & Brown

Insurors member Brown & Brown of Tennessee, Inc., a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc., has acquired the assets of fellow member, Nashville-based Frank E. Neal & Co., Inc.

The Frank E. Neal team, including executives Wink, Mark and Brent Neal, will join with the existing Brown & Brown of Tennessee team in Nashville. Brown & Brown of Tennessee operates under local leadership of Ryan Rothrock and regional leadership of John Esposito.

TIS Insurance Services Names Wake as CEO

TIS Insurance Services, Inc. of Knoxville has named Don Wake as the agency's new CEO. Wake has over 32 years of experience in the insurance industry, and formerly served as the managing director of the Knoxville Marsh office before joining TIS in 2012 to serve as president. He has a Bachelor's degree from UT-Knoxville.

Shafer Insurance Named AGC Provider of Year

The Johnson City office of Shafer Insurance Agency was recently named "Supplier/Service Provider of the Year" for 2020 by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Tennessee Tri-Cities Branch. The agency was honored for their work with area contractors and the community.

WC Dillon Selected to Hanover Pres. Club

Nashville agency member WC Dillon Company was recently selected to the 2020 Presidents Club of The Hanover Insurance Group. Agencies named to the company's exclusive group are recognized for delivering outstanding value to their customers through insurance expertise and responsive service.

Reliance Partners Named as "Great Workplace"

Chattanooga-based agency Reliance Partners recently announced that it is Great Place to Work-Certified™. Certification is a significant achievement. Using validated employee feedback gathered with Great Place to Work’s rigorous, data-driven For All methodology, Certification confirms 7 out of 10 employees have a consistently positive experience at Reliance Partners. Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver marketleading revenue and increased innovation. u