What is ‘Bona Fide’ Republican?

Candidates that wish to run on the Republican ballot for office in Tennessee have always been required to be ‘bona fide’ Republicans. If you need clarity on what exactly ‘bona fide’ Republican means, you can find it in Article IX, Section 1 of the Tennessee Republican Party’s bylaws that can be found on the tngop.org website.

Here’s a summary of the qualifications:

• Actively involved in the TNGOP or local party, and
  • Voted in 3 of the 4 most recent Statewide GOP Primaries (August 2020, March 2020, August 2018, August 2016), or
  • Vouched for by a county executive committee member and a state committee
• Paid Registration fees

If you are uncertain regarding your bona fide status, please get in touch with your local Republican party chair. Contact info for all county Republican parties can be found here.

Where do I pay the Registration or Filing Fee?

The easiest way to pay your registration fee is online at tngop.org. Look for the red button “Click Here for Candidate Registration”. You will see a list of offices with the fees associated with each office.

Don’t delay! The instructions indicate that you should pay the fee prior to filing (returning your qualifying petition). Candidates for circuit court judge, criminal court judge, general sessions judge or chancellor are exempt from the fees due to ethics rules for candidates for judge.

It’s not too late to go to your local elections office to begin filing for office. When asking voters to sign your petition, be sure that they live in the district of the office you’re seeking. Collect extra signatures! Sometimes signatures don’t match, the elections office address doesn’t match the signers address, or the individuals actually aren’t registered to vote. You have until noon, February 17th to return the petitions to the elections office. Don’t wait until the last minute!