Republican mailers target Salinas, Johnson
Republican mailers targeting Democratic Senate candidate Gabby Salinas of Memphis use communist imagery including a hammer and sickle, while others aimed at Democratic House candidate Gloria Johnson in Knoxville arguably go even a step further by invoking former Volunteers’ coach Butch Jones.
The mailers are produced by Direct Edge Campaigns. They are aimed at propping up incumbent Republicans Brian Kelsey of Germantown and Eddie Smith of Knoxville.
See full pages of the ads after the jump.
Leatherwood nominated to succeed late Rep. Lollar
The Shelby County Republican Party has named former state Sen. Tom Leatherwood as the nominee to succeed to state Rep. Ron Lollar, who died less than a month before the primary election.
The decision was made by the three members of the county party’s steering committee who live in the 99th House District, The Daily News of Memphis reports.
“This is new to all of us,” Shelby County Republican Party chairman Lee Mills, who recused himself for the vote because he was also a contender for the nomination. “So it’s a little awkward. I don’t believe we’ve ever done this before.”
Leatherwood served in the Senate from 1992 to 2000, when he was elected register of deeds in Shelby County. He made an unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in 2008, saying that “too many Republicans got Potomac fever and became more self-serving.”
Leatherwood, who lost his bid for the Republican nomination for circuit court clerk in August, faces Democratic nominee Dave Cambron in the general election for the state House seat.
Commercial Appeal urges voters to send Tate packing
“Why does a man who represents Parkway Village, Hickory Hill and tiny parts of Germantown and Collierville feel compelled to attend conferences in Alaska and Rhode Island?” the editorial asks. “Why does a man who represents a primarily African-American, Democratic district go to so many meetings of the American Legislative Exchange Conference, which promotes a conservative Republican agenda?
“Why does a Memphis state senator spend so much of his time and our money on the road? Tate clearly enjoys travel. District 33 voters should send him packing.”
Poll finds Bredesen with 30 percent support among likely GOP voters in Blackburn’s home area
A poll of likely Republican voters in state House District 61, which includes the Brentwood home of U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, indicates 30 percent support Democrat Phil Bredesen over Blackburn in the U.S. Senate race, according to Tennessee Star. Blackburn had 61 percent support with the rest undecided.
Faison criticized for medical marijuana support by GOP challenger in House District 11
In a “spirited and at times heated debate,” House Government Operations Chairman Jeremy Faison was criticized on several matters by Greg Fodness, who is challenging him in in the House District 11 Republican primary, reports the Newport Plain Talk. One hot topic was Faison’s advocacy of legalizing medical marijuana in recent legislative sessions.
Harr stays out of House District 26 GOP primary
Former Chattanooga Chamber president and BlueCross BlueShield executive Ron Harr said today he won’t seek the Republican nomination for the District 26 state House seat, reports the Times Free Press.
Robin Smith announces run for GOP nomination in House District 26; two other potential candidates step aside
Former Tennessee Republican Chairman Robin Smith says she will run for the House District 26 seat being vacated by Rep. Gerald McCormick, reports the Times Free Press. And she’ll have the backing of two men who had been considering a run for the GOP nomination.
Four Republicans eye run for House District 26 seat where McCormick is resigning
Ron Harr, former Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce president and a retired vice president of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Tuesday picked up papers to qualify as a candidate in the House District 26 seat where former House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick has announced he will resign, reports the Times Free Press.
Three others said they are talking to each other — and hoping to talk to Harr, who was out of town — about settling on a consensus candidate and avoiding a contested primary. All said they expect to decide this week.
Former Johnson City mayor backs off campaign to unseat state Rep. Micah Van Huss
Former Johnson City Mayor Steve Darden says he wants to withdraw from a challenge to state Rep. Micah Van Huss in the state House District 6 Republican primary, reports the Johnson City Press, but apparently his name will remain on the ballot.
McCormick drops bid for re-election, says he’ll resign House seat effective Oct. 1
Republican state Rep. Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga says he will resign his House District 26 seat effective Oct. 1 and withdraw immediately as a candidate for re-election, reports the Times Free Press. The former House majority leader said he decided to leave the legislature after 14 years to take a new job based in Nashville.
The Commercial Appeal in an unusually scathing editorial urges Democratic primary voters to cast state Sen. Reginald Tate (D-Memphis) out of office. The editorial focuses on Tate’s more than 70 out-of-state trips, his caustic remarks about fellow Democrats, and his propensity to side with Republicans in the name of pragmatism.
The editorial notes that Tate took a five-day tour of Europe, “five-day tour of Europe he took in 2011, all expenses paid by Andy Miller, Nashville millionaire, and leader of the right-wing, anti-Muslim Tennessee Freedom Coalition.”
Tate faces Katrina Robinson in Thursday’s Democratic primary. She has been endorsed by incumbent Memphis Sens. Sara Kyle and Lee Harris.