Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

From the Tennessean.com:

Republican Kerry Roberts, of Robertson County, handily won the special election for Tennessee’s 18th District senate seat last night.

Roberts, who recorded a nearly two-to-one margin over Democrat Ken Wilber, said he believes the voters have spoken clearly on three issues.

“First, voters agree that job growth and economic development come through lower taxes, less government regulation, and better education,” he said in a news release. “Second, voters want a Senator who will consistently stand up for the conservative values of protecting the right to life, the right to keep and bear arms, and who believes in and supports the Constitution. And third, voters resoundingly rejected negative campaign advertising and personal attacks. We remained positive and the voters overwhelmingly responded.”

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From the City Paper:

Recalling political protests that roiled the legislature a decade ago, senators voted Wednesday to amend the Tennessee constitution to ban the state income tax.

The Senate voted 28-5 for the Republican-backed resolution. If it also passes the House by a majority in this General Assembly and then by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate in the next, it would go on the ballot for voter approval in the 2014 elections.

In 2002, a state income tax won 45 votes in the House and drew rowdy protests to the Capitol. The state Supreme Court has ruled three times — most recently in 1964 — that the constitution already prohibits an income tax. But the state attorney general issued an opinion in 1999 saying the tax was permissible. Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, said his resolution is needed to resolve the issue.

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From The Tennessean:

Tennessee Republicans are limiting the number of immigration bills they will take up this year, saying they want to focus on a few key aspects of the issue and keep the topic from overshadowing job creation and education.

GOP lawmakers are planning to focus this legislative session on one to three measures designed to combat illegal immigration by requiring more checks on citizenship status by employers, police and government entitlement administrators.

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From Tennessean.com:

With Republicans nationwide riding a wave of voter discontent and with the state Senate securely under GOP control, Democrats in Tennessee have set their sights on winning back control of the House of Representatives. Their chances hinge on a handful of open Republican seats and whether voters will rally around candidates such as LaRoche.

The Murfreesboro native, whose wife is expecting their first child in the fall, has received strong support from the Democratic Party, raising nearly $48,000 for his bid to represent the 48th House District. The money has put him on roughly equal footing with the incumbent, Rep. Joe Carr, a Lascassas Republican who won the seat two years ago.

LaRoche has also set a goal of knocking on 10,000 doors before Election Day, a plan that will put him before countless swing voters like Clew. His pitch — that they should ignore the social and political issues that favor Republicans, at least in this one race.

“For me, it’s all about Rutherford County,” he said. “I’m not going to waste time on cable-news topics that maybe get people riled up on either side of the issue.”

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From timesfreepress.com:

This is the big one, Tennessee Republicans say: the opportunity in fall elections to win the governorship, capture a majority of congressional seats and solidify GOP control of the General Assembly.

GOP leaders are keeping their fingers crossed that 2010 elections will put the party in its strongest position since post-Civil War Reconstruction, just in time to redraw 132 legislative districts and nine congressional seats for 2012 elections.

“Certainly we’re not taking anything for granted, but I believe it’s going to be a very good year for Republicans across the state,” state party Chairman Chris Devaney said.

State Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester says that’s “preposterous.”

“They have just come out of a set of primaries that have been about as bloody as I have seen in 20 years,” said Forrester. He said Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike McWherter should win his race, and so should Democrats in two open congressional races. The party is also in excellent position to retake the state House from Republicans, he said.

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From the Tennessean:

Tennesseans favor bringing Arizona’s controversial immigration measure to the state by a 4-to-1 margin, a poll conducted for The Tennessean and other media outlets found.

Seventy-two percent of voters in the state say they would support enacting a law that would require people stopped by police to prove they are in the country legally. Such legislation would be modeled after an Arizona immigration statute scheduled to go into effect Thursday that lets police charge people who cannot prove their citizenship status under the state’s criminal trespassing laws.

“I have no problem with it,” said Otis Schrier, a retired civil servant from Dover who responded to the poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. “I don’t think criminals have a right to not show identification.”

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From TimesFreePress.com:

Stealth, cunning and daring often are considered prized attributes in the political world of Tennessee’s Legislative Plaza, the sprawling state government complex filled with legislators’ offices and committee hearing rooms.

But officials are trying to draw a line when it comes to what they believe is a stubborn raccoon who moved in weeks ago and now scutters above ceiling panels. Earlier this week, the animal launched a strike on the legislative cafeteria’s kitchen.

Torn tiles fell to the floor.

“Due to the damage done to the kitchen by Mr. Raccoon, the cafeteria will be closed the rest of the week,” said a sign posted Tuesday.

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From the AP:

Tennessee lawmakers adjourned the 106th General Assembly early today after failing to pass a bill to opt out of the new federal health care law.

The Senate completed its business at 1:13 a.m., while the House followed four minutes later.

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville — who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination — and other lawmakers eager to hit the campaign trail had hoped to conclude the session by the end of April. But it was not to be.

Both chambers passed the budget — the only piece of legislation they are constitutionally required to adopt — last week, but spent the last few days wrangling about issues like the federal health care overhaul and mountaintop removal coal mining.

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From the Tennessean:

State House Speaker Kent Williams says his shocking collapse during session was a result of low blood sugar.

He was presiding over a session of the House on Thursday when he slumped against the lectern and then fell to the floor. House members with emergency training tended to Williams, an independent from Elizabethton.

He was able to get up minutes later and walk out of the chamber.

Williams, who appeared to have a bruised area on the side of his head, told an Associated Press reporter that he suffers from low blood sugar and that he didn’t eat breakfast.

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