Capitol Notes

Peggy Sue, the Beagle Hound is fond of the classic 1957 Buddy Holly song. When hunting legislative news or biscuits, she is hard to contact.

That’s a bigger pile of money than a show dog could jump over.

Four Incumbents Defeated. The August 1 primary election saw four legislative incumbents defeated, two in the senate and two in the house. East Tennessee saw those two Senate defeats with Education Committee Chair Jon Lundberg of Bristol losing to Bobby Harshbarger. This race was hotly contested and expensive. Mr. Harshbarger is the son of U.S. House Member Diana Harshbarger, and he received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Mr. Harshbarger faces only token opposition in the November general election. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains was defeated by Claiborne County’s Jess Seal. School vouchers was a significant issue, and significant independent piles of money late in the campaign may have caught Niceley by surprise. Mr. Seal will face Democrat R. E. Ellison in November. In the House, two committee chairs were defeated. In the House, Richard Scarbrough, a former Clinton police chief, defeated 14year incumbent John Ragan, both of Anderson County. Representative Ragan has served as Chair of the House Government Operations Committee. Mr. Scarbrough will face Democrat Anne Backus in November. Most surprisingly, Michele Reneau defeated 10-year House veteran and Finance Ways & Means Committee Chair Patsy Hazlewood by 137 votes in a hotly contested primary election in Hamilton County. Ms. Reneau will face Democrat Kathy Lennon in November.

Closer to Home. Here in Davidson County, State Representative Darren Jernigan decided to call in the dogs and go to work for Mayor Freddie O’Connell as the Mayor’s legislative liaison. The Mayor’s gain is our collective loss, and we will miss Darren’s calm manner in a heated legislative environment; he has served us well. The Democratic primary race to fill Jernigan’s District 60 seat saw Shaundelle Brooks defeat Tyler Brasher by around 350 votes out of 4,800 votes cast. Ms. Brooks faces Chad Bobo, the winner of the Republican primary in November. District 60 tends a bit purple, so this race will probably be spicy.

Tennessee is the Worst. Tennesseans are not good to vote. We do better in the presidential elections every four years with 68% of Tennesseans voting in the 2020 November election. Not so much in any of the other elections. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Performance Index, after the 2022 elections, Tennessee is 51st among the states and the District of Columbia. In August 2024, we did little to change those rankings here in Davidson County when a little more than 13% of the county voted. Couple that data point with our state voter registration rate of only 80%, and you end up with a super minority of voters electing a super majority of our 132 state legislative officials. We can and must do better.

Calendar Notes.

September 2 - Labor Day holiday

September 26 - NBA member picnic

October 7 - Voter Registration deadline for the November election

October 16-31 - Early Voting period for the November 5 election

November 5 - State & federal general election

November 28-29 - Thanksgiving holidays