In the past week, several concerned District 15 residents and beyond have reached out to me about an alert regarding HB 0855/SB 0799. The bill is scheduled for a state house committee hearing tomorrow (4/9/25). Let’s dig in!
After digging into the proposed legislation by reading the adopted amendment, watching the committee hearings and asking a couple of questions of the bill sponsors, I have a few questions for everyone concerned.
- Are you comfortable with three individuals from your county limiting your nomination of local county Republican candidates to a closed convention held during a couple of hours on a randomly selected Saturday morning?
- Would you be disappointed if your nominee for county sheriff, county mayor, county commissioner or school board member was held at a time and place in which you could not participate?
- Are you more comfortable with a primary election conducted by your local election commissions office that allows a couple of weeks for early voting and absentee voting for those that are out of town during the election?
My answer to those questions would be no, yes and yes!
Speaking of the bill sponsors, they are Representatives Reeves, McCalmon, Faison, Marsh, Hicks T, Moon, Atchley and Speaker Sexton on the state house side and Senate Majority Leader Johnson and Senator Gardenhire from the state senate.
Here’s my summary of what is included in the proposed legislation:
Local Republican party executive committees would no longer have an option to call a convention (or caucus) to elect their party nominees for local or district elected offices (such as countywide offices of mayor, sheriff, roads superintendent, county commissioners and school board members). They could request a primary election for those offices.
Note: At this point, very few county parties have elected to use a caucus other than to nominate candidates to fill vacancies. Further, those few county parties that have used this option in 2022 or 2024 for local nominees are allowed to continue to do so. They are ‘grandfathered’ in.
What’s NOT included in the proposed legislation:
- Those ‘emergency’ type of caucuses to nominate a candidate to fill an unexpected vacancy. The law that governs that type of activity is in a different section of Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA).
- Local party election of officers is governed by the Tennessee Republican Party. Your bylaws mandate those elections to take place in odd numbered years between January 1 and April 15.
What’s the problem?
When a local county executive committee has the authority to call for a caucus rather than a primary election, it has to be scheduled for a single day at a specific time. With many county executive committees having only five voting members, as few as THREE INDIVIDUALS are entrusted with this authority.
What’s gained by scheduling a caucus? More scrutiny of the participants.
Entry to a Republican caucus is limited to those that have a voting history of voting in three of the most recent four statewide primaries. Those that are too young to have voted in that many primaries are granted a waiver to participate.
What’s lost? Too many local Republican voters.
Here are a few examples of Republicans that are excluded from participation:
- People that have work schedule conflicts.
- People that have not had sufficient notice. Try as anyone might, getting word out about a specific time and place for a caucus simply is not comparable to publicity about a primary election.
- People that have recently moved to the county. They need enough notice to retrieve their voting history from their previous residence.
- People with limited mobility such as those in assisted living facilities.
- People who are ill on that day.
- People who are on vacation on that day.
- People who are working out of town, including truck drivers and the military.
My conclusion: Support HB 0855/SB 0799!
In case you are like me and prefer to research to determine your stance, here’s the link to the bill. Be sure to look for the amendment language posted with the Senate bill and if you have time, watch the video recordings of the committee hearings of the bill. Tennessee’s General Assembly website provides terrific access for the public to keep up with proposed legislation. If you haven’t already explored that website, check out all that’s offered, from legislator contact information, committee assignments and schedules, to proposed bill language and recorded videos of all discussions.
One final caution: Choose your sources wisely and carefully. Just because an organization includes ‘conservative’ in their organization name, doesn’t mean that they are providing an honest depiction of issues. ALWAYS, ALWAYS verify any claims – especially if every communication you receive is asking for money! If it sounds too horrible or too wonderful to be true, it just might be an exaggerated depiction.
I do not ask for financial donations. I provide this blog as a newsletter to advise of Republican activities in Senate district 15. Occasionally, I will offer my perspective on political issues. If you like what you read, please be sure to add yourself to my email subscriber list!
Linda Clark, District 15 TNGOP State Executive Committeewoman