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Year in review: The most viewed TNJ posts of 2022

Here are the 10 most-viewed TNJ: On the Hill blog posts of 2022, counting up to the

10. Whoever signed this Phoenix Solutions document has some explaining to do.

March 8: An IRS W-9 form submitted to the General Assembly in January 2020 carries the signature of Matthew Phoenix, right under a section outlining the certification is made “under penalties of perjury” that the person signing the document is a “U.S. person.”

9. Trump endorses Ortagus in GOP primary for 5th District.

Jan. 25: Former President Donald Trump is endorsing Morgan Ortagus, a former spokeswoman to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for the Republican nomination in the new-look 5th Congressional District being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Nashville).

Cade Cothren, speaking on phone, attends a meeting with lawmakers and fellow staffers on the balcony outside the House chamber on April 29, 2019. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

8. Casada, Cothren indicted on federal bribery, kickback charges.

Aug. 23: Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his onetime chief of staff, Cade Cothren, have been indicted on federal bribery and kickback charges. The FBI arrested both at their homes. Casada is retiring from the House this year after stepping down from the speakership amid scandal in 2019. He was overwhelmingly defeated in his bid for Williamson County Clerk earlier this year.

7. TNJ exclusive: Lee chooses Campbell for Tenn. Supreme Court.

Gov. Bill Lee delivers his State of the State address on Jan. 31, 2022. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

Jan. 12: Republican Gov. Bill Lee is naming associate state solicitor general Sarah Campbell to the bench of the Tennessee Supreme Court, The Tennessee Journal has learned. Campbell, 39, is an associate solicitor general and special assistant to state Attorney General Herbert Slatery. 

6. Read Vanderbilt hospital’s letter to lawmakers on transgender clinic.

Oct. 7: Vanderbilt University Medical Center says no minors have received genital procedures at its transgender clinic and that all patients were at least 16 years old and had parental consent. The hospital told Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) it will pause gender affirmation surgery on patients under age 18 while it seeks advice from local and national experts, a process that could take several months.

5 Here’s the backstory on the Andy Ogles attack ad.

July 18: We found Ogles appeared as a co-owner of a Franklin home between 2005 and 2015, though for reasons unknown he was not listed on the rolls in the 2013 tax year. While it’s true that property tax payments were late on nine occasions, that includes years where the Ogles family was as little as one or two days behind the deadline. But in other years it took as many as 194 and 322 days to pay the tax bill.

4 Former Tennessee first lady Honey Alexander dies at 77.

Oct. 30: Honey Alexander, who was married to former governor and U.S. senator Lamar Alexander for 53 years, died Saturday at her home outside Maryville. She was 77.

3. Rep. Ron Gant survives head-on crash.

Oct. 25: State Rep. Ron Gant was flown by helicopter for treatment at a Memphis hospital after the vehicle he was driving was struck in a head-on collision in rural West Tennessee. The other driver died in the crash.

2. Lee declines signature on ‘truth in sentencing’ bill.

May 5: Gov. Bill Lee has declined to sign a “truth in sentencing” bill championed by legislative Republicans to require people convicted of violent crimes to serve all of their sentences behind bars, The Tennessee Journal learned.

1. Hargett charged with DUI after Bonnaroo visit.

Secretary of State Tre Hargett speaks with Rep. Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville) before Gov. Bill Haslam’s final State of the State address on Jan. 29, 2018 in Nashville. (Photo credit: Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

June 18: Secretary of State Tre Hargett has been charged with drunken driving after attending the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Coffee County. Hargett was at the event from Friday afternoon through around 11:30 p.m. when he was stopped by Tullahoma police. He was given a blood test and charged with DUI.

U.S. Capitol incursion, bust removal among top stories of first half of 2021

Gov. Bill Lee speaks to reporters after a bill signing ceremony in Nashville on May 24, 2021. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

Here are the 10 most-viewed posts on the TNJ: On the Hill blog through the first half of 2021.

10. New PAC takes aim at Gov. Bill Lee’s re-election bid. April 29, 2021.

9. Knoxville ballpark, Tebow charity among entities getting grants in Lee budget. April 14, 2021.

8. Hagerty names Jim Henry as state director. Jan. 13, 2021.

7. Feds rescind effort to lock in Medicaid changes made by Trump administration. Feb. 23, 2021.

6. FBI visit to Tennessee Capitol sparks jitters. March 10, 2021.

Federal agents meet with legislative staffers outside the office of Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin) in Nashville on Jan. 8, 2021. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

5. Here are the projected amounts headed to TN cities and counties under the COVID relief program. March 30, 2021.

4. Speaker Sexton strips Griffey of committee assignments. March 25, 2021.

Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) attends a meeting at the legislative office building in Nashville on Dec. 20, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

3. GOP lawmaker levels impeachment threat over bust removal. March 15, 2021.

2. Tennessee congressional delegation recoils at Capitol incursion. Jan. 6, 2021.

1. Former commissioner reports Rep. Weaver to DC police. Jan. 14, 2021.

Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) attends a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in Nashville on March 16, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

Year in Review: The most viewed TNJ blog posts of 2020

Republican Bill Hagerty speaks to a reporter before casting his early vote in Nashville on Oct. 21, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

Here are the Top 10 most viewed stories on the TNJ: On the Hill blog this year.

1. June 11: Sethi seeks to make political gain out of coronavirus pandemic.

2. May 11: Things get interesting in the open 1st District race.

3. Aug. 5: Hagerty does some creative accounting to obscure Romney donation.

4. March 30: Lee’s stay-at home order in detail.

5. April 20: Protest leader demands free refills.

6. April 20: The lockdown ends.

7. July 16: Hagerty launches the negative ad barrage.

8. Dec. 15: We’re No. 1.

9. Jan. 19: In like Flinn.

10. Nov. 13: Most signed, some didn’t.

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Posts and Opinions about Tennessee politics, government, and legislative news.