Report: Probe clears Nashville airport CEO of wrongdoing

Posted on by Erik Schelzig

An investigation conducted behind closed doors at the Metro Nashville Airport Authority found “no evidence of wrongdoing” by CEO Doug Kreulen, according to the Nashville Business Journal.

The findings were included in an Aug. 2 email sent by Kreulen after he held one-on-one meetings with each of the seven board members. 

“I was notified of the complaint on June 15th, and the investigator concluded the investigation on July 22nd when she debriefed Chair [Nancy] Sullivan and I that there was no evidence of wrongdoing,” Kreulen wrote in the email obtained by the newspaper.

Board members had held two executive sessions to discuss the inquiry. One of the law firms involved, Frost Todd Brown LLP, often represents companies and executives in employment discrimination and other labor matters. 

“As with any investigation, there are always lessons learned, but I want to reassure you that I remain 100% confident and committed to leading a professional organization,” Kreulen said in the email.

Kreulen has been CEO of the airport since 2017 and remains under contract until 2026.

The airport board has been the subject of legal upheaval since state lawmakers last year passed a law to wrest six board appointments from the Nashville mayor and instead assign them to the governor and speakers of the House and Senate. While Kreulen said he was neutral on the effort, critics saw him as tacitly favoring the change in governance. 

The airport takeover bill was thrown out by a three-judge panel. The state is mounting a challenge with the state Court of Appeals. 

New Georgia law gets tougher on illegal drag racing — and not just the drivers

Posted on by Nava Rawls

The Peach State is cracking down harder on illegal drag racing — and not just when it comes to the drivers.

Senate Bill 10, which went into effect July 1, imposes harsher penalties on people associated with illegal drag racing.

Also known as street racing, these unlawful competitions feature modified cars traveling at high speeds in secret locations. The races are often promoted and documented on social media, and participants illegally block off roads, streets and even highways to conduct the events.

Atlanta has become a hub for these races, many of which are publicly shared and promoted online despite their illicit nature. 

Some experts say the recent surge in street racing can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, less than a month before pandemic-related shutdowns, the Atlanta Police Department reported 36 calls related to illegal drag racing. That October, the department received 568.

Three years ago, Sen. Emanuel Jones was approached by DeKalb County resident Bobbie Sanford, who lost her daughter-in-law, Jaye Sanford, in a street racing-related crash in November 2020. The mother of two was driving with her teenage daughter when a racer slammed head-on into their vehicle. 

Continue reading “New Georgia law gets tougher on illegal drag racing — and not just the drivers”

Our History: Gov. Mike Foster

Posted on by David Jacobs

Murphy J. “Mike” Foster, who served a relatively calm eight years as governor between two of the most tumultuous administrations in state history, was born 94 years ago this month in Shreveport. His namesake grandfather had governed Louisiana from 1892 until 1900. 

His family moved to Centerville, where he attended public schools. He enrolled at Virginia Military Institute in 1948 before transferring to LSU, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry. 

Foster joined the Air Force and served in the Korean War. After returning home to Franklin, he began farming sugar cane and soon after formed Bayou Sale Contractors, primarily as a means to keep his farm crew together during the offseason.

“I wasn’t one of those gentlemen farmers,” he reportedly said, even though he was sometimes described as a “wealthy planter” in the press. “I fixed my own tractors.”

Despite his background, Foster didn’t initially show much interest in politics. But after his state senator, Tony Guarisco, wouldn’t return his phone calls, Foster got mad and challenged the incumbent in 1987 and went on to trounce him with 64 percent of the vote.

Foster was 64 in 1994 when he launched his campaign for governor in a stacked field that included former Gov. Buddy Roemer, Lt. Gov. Melinda Schwegmann, state Treasurer Mary Landrieu, Sen. Cleo Fields and former Rep. David Duke. He switched his registration from Democrat to Republican, and following the advice of his political consultant Roy Fletcher, staked out staunchly conservative positions on social issues.

Foster cut a deal with Duke that led Duke to get out of the race and endorse Foster. The relationship led to arguably the only scandal of Foster’s political career, when it was revealed that Foster had a secret deal with Duke and purchased a list of Duke’s contributors and supporters. Foster paid a $20,000 fine for not reporting the payment to Duke, making him the first governor to be fined by the Board of Ethics.

Fletcher put Foster atop a tractor in one ad, and behind a welding mask in another, creating a working-class image for a candidate that financed his campaign with $2 million of his own money. 

Foster ran first in the primary with 26 percent of the vote and trounced Fields in the runoff with almost 64 percent. He won reelection in the first round with 62 percent of the vote over then-Congressman Bill Jefferson.

Foster oversaw creation of the TOPS scholarship program and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. The growing national economy boosted state coffers, allowing lawmakers to increase teacher pay, reduce state debt and boost funding for higher education. 

Foster helped create a deal to keep the Saints in New Orleans, approved using state money to expand the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and was instrumental in getting the Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans) to move to Louisiana. He also signed off on the Stelly Plan, a fiscal overhaul that made the state’s tax system less regressive but was unwound under his successors. 

His Commissioner of Administration Mark Drennen oversaw the consolidation of state workers downtown, issuing bonds to build at least 10 buildings in downtown Baton Rouge. Meant to save the state money over the long term, the project also spurred the revitalization of the city’s core. 

Foster’s outside interests spurred criticism of the sometimes-absentee governor. He learned to fly helicopters and took law classes at Southern University, graduating in 2004, the year he left office. 

Foster was a relatively hands-off governor, trusting his appointees to manage affairs in their areas. They included former Gov. Bobby Jindal, who Foster tapped to lead the state health department at age 24. 

After leaving the Governor’s Mansion, he and his wife, Alice, retired to Oaklawn Manor on the Bayou Teche. He died in 2020.

Editor’s note: The information for this piece came from The Advocate, The New York Times and the Secretary of State’s office. 

This piece first ran in the July 18, 2024 edition of LaPolitics Weekly. Wish you could have read it then? Subscribe today!

What you might have missed in LaPolitics (08.13.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

Here’s what you may have missed in the latest issue of LaPolitics Weekly, published last week…

— GIVING YOU PROPS: Louisiana voters will wade through more than 50 municipal and parish propositions on the November ballot, including a handful that could substantively reshape how local governments and administrations function…

— LaPOLITICS Q&A: “We are treating this as Louisiana’s Super Bowl. We will have a general, all-Louisiana approach to our business messaging. We will also have a very targeted approach in our outreach, using this tremendous opportunity to showcase Louisiana as a premier destination for business investment,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said…

— NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES: Tax policy, K-12 education funding and housing are among this year’s top issues noted by state fiscal analysts across the country…

— FIELD NOTES: Louisiana’s Future is Now, Inc., headquartered in McLean, Virginia, has created and shared an attack video targeting Senate Judiciary A Chair Greg Miller, claiming he “continuously blocks or weakens legislation intended to reduce the influence of personal injury lawyers on our insurance costs”…

— SHOP TALK: The havoc extreme heat wreaks on aging infrastructure…

— OUR HISTORY: Edwin Washington Edwards, who defined late-20th-century Louisiana politics, for better or worse, was born in Avoyelles Parish on yesterday’s date in 1927…

— THEY SAID IT: “Tell your child not to look at them.” —Gov. Jeff Landry’s message to parents who don’t support posting the Ten Commandments in public schools. 

Wish you would have read these stories last week? Subscribe today to www.LaPoliticsWeekly.com. 

Kansas Daily News Wire August 13, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

Flint Hills vanity plate design flattens competition in online public contest: Splashy new imagery will soon adorn the vehicles of Kansas drivers opting for a personalized license plate. (Resnick, State Affairs)

Sedgwick County considers restrictions on solar farms that could disqualify $200M project: Sedgwick County commissioners could adopt a new slate of restrictions this week that significantly limit where industrial solar farms can be built and how much space they can take up. (The Wichita Eagle)

Kelly on ‘Face the Nation’: Walz understands rural America: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz understands rural America, which makes him “a huge asset” for Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Laura Kelly said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” (Richardson, State Affairs)

Evergy records $207m earnings this quarter, cites warm weather as reason: Last week, Evergy announced its second quarter 2024 earnings. The company made $20.9 million more this quarter compared to Q2 last year. (KSNT)

Steam locomotive ‘Big Boy’ to return to Kansas in October: The Union Pacific historic steam locomotive Big Boy No. 4014 is expected to charge though Kansas in just over two months. (KAKE)

LOCAL

Why a growing number of Topekans are being cited for grass growing too high: A rising number of Topeka property owners are being ticketed for letting their grass, weeds or other vegetation grow more than 12 inches tall. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

Parents petition to ban cell phones in Lawrence schools: More than 100 parents of students in the Lawrence school district have signed a petition in support of a districtwide ban of cell phones in classrooms. (The Lawrence Times)

Judge dismisses larger discrimination claims while allowing lawsuit against Topeka Police Department to continue: A gender discrimination lawsuit against the Topeka Police Department will continue, in part. (WIBW)

Reno County issues health alert about ‘recent unusual spike in overdoses’: Reno County issued a health alert on Monday concerning what it described as “a recent unusual spike in overdoses.” (KWCH)

Local landlord says mayor physically attacked his wife during lease discussion: A local landlord says Manhattan mayor Susan Adamchak attacked his wife during an argument about a lease agreement. (Manhattan Mercury)

Headlines & Bylines (08.13.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

— The Advocate: Lawmakers promote bills that benefit their industries

— WGNO: Broadband rollout in Louisiana begins second phase, faces rural challenges

— The Advocate: After last year’s drought, Louisiana agriculture doing much better, but crawfish face challenges

— Illuminator: How big is Louisiana’s budget deficit next year? It depends on teacher pay

— The Advocate: Cash floods the Baton Rouge mayoral race, with $1.3 million already donated to top candidates

— The Advocate: Greenfield elevator scuttled as Corps weighed site’s significance to slave, plantation history

— Bloomberg Law: Public is safe under Louisiana carbon capture program, EPA says

— 10/12 Industry Report: EV battery component manufacturing poised to be Louisiana’s next big industry

— WWL: New rules to expand EV charging in Louisiana

— Oil & Gas Journal: Williams to start work on Louisiana natural gas pipeline despite ongoing dispute

Political Chatter (08.13.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

— WATCHING THE SUPREMES: The Louisiana Supreme Court could end up effectively picking its next member. Leslie Chambers, who the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled last week is not eligible to run for the newly created majority-minority Supreme Court seat, is asking the high court to review that decision. Meanwhile, the plaintiff who challenged the candidacy of Chambers and Judge Marcus Hunter is asking the Supremes to overrule the 4th Circuit’s decision that Hunter can stay in the race. As of Monday afternoon, the Supreme Court had not announced whether it would take up either writ, though a decision is expected this week. If both candidates are ruled ineligible, Judge John Michael Guidry would win by default. The most recent campaign finance reports available online showed Chambers leading the money chase with $179,884 on hand, while Guidry had $140,137.75 and Hunter had $3,345.13. 

— LANE ON GREG MILLER ATTACK: Several Capitol insiders say Lane Grigsby is behind Louisiana’s Future is Now, Inc., which has created a video and a mailer attacking Senate Judiciary A Chair Greg Miller. Grigsby said that’s not the case, though he did give the entity money, and stressed that the policy issues are more important than who might be paying for an ad. During the regular session, Miller’s committee blocked or watered down tort reform measures that advocates argued could help bring down auto insurance rates, while advancing a bill tort reformers opposed. “We didn’t get anything done in the last session that’s going to be meaningful for the taxpaying public,” Grigsby said, while acknowledging that Miller didn’t block tort reform alone. “A lot of it falls on the governor.” 

— MAJOR CANDIDATES TO SKIP CD6 DEBATE: A Congressional District 6 debate KALB is planning for Aug. 22 will not include the major parties’ endorsed candidates. Cleo Fields and Elbert Guillory, endorsed by the state Democrats and Republicans respectively, do not plan to participate, both candidates told The Tracker. As of Monday, the debate was still on, and Democratic candidates Quentin Anderson and Peter Williams had confirmed their participation, said Colin Vedros, the KALB reporter and anchor who is slated to moderate. Wilken Jones Jr., a Democrat from Opelousas, also qualified for the race. 

— NEW ORLEANS VENDOR CONFUSION: The city of New Orleans cannot accurately determine how long it takes to pay vendors, which leads to payment delays, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor reports. Multiple vendors said invoicing the city is often a cumbersome process, and that required forms sometimes change without notice.

— MORE FROM LLA: Ascension Parish had 22 reportable instances of theft of public funds totaling $39,469 between September and December 2023, all but one of which was discovered by parish officials. An auditor also found the parish failed to comply with its water disconnection policy for two industrial customers that had outstanding balances totaling $63,222 and failed to adopt an itemized, ranked listing of road projects for the first fiscal year of a three-year program, as required by the Parish Transportation Act. In a separate report, an auditor noted that the Lafayette Parish Bayou Vermilion District was the victim of a business email compromise scam in March 2023, and a total of $149,749 was transferred. The district immediately reported the theft to authorities and all funds were recovered.

— TREASURER RAPS BANK OF AMERICA: Treasurer John Fleming says Bank of America should not be approved as an authorized fiscal agent for the state “because there is evidence that Bank of America is deliberately denying banking services to customers and potential customers (de-banking) of religious organizations, gun manufacturers, fossil fuel producers and others based simply on their political perspectives and activities, not because of any bank policy or law violations.” 

— LADA TACKLES LITTER: The Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association is partnering with Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser to display banners about the need to reduce roadway litter and supply litter prevention kits to new car buyers. The kits will include a car litter bag, a portable ashtray, an informational rack card, a bumper sticker, and a car coaster with the litter hotline number: 855-La-Litter.

— LCA ON DENKA’S FIGHT WITH FEDS: Denka Performance Elastomer, which employs more than 200 people in LaPlace, has been in a decade-long fight with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has “used enforcement actions, lawsuits, emergency orders and new rules in an attempt to strong-arm the facility into spending millions on emissions reduction and monitoring equipment—or shut down,” says Greg Bowser, who leads the Louisiana Chemical Association. Bowser defends the company in an exclusive column for tomorrow’s edition of Beltway Beat. 

More tax props on tap for December

Posted on by David Jacobs

While Louisiana voters won’t be considering a major fiscal overhaul this fall, there could still be measures on your ballot that will affect your pocketbook. 

In November, voters will consider more than 50 taxes and fees. Most are renewals of existing revenue streams, though in the current anti-tax political environment, that doesn’t mean they’re going to pass.

The December 7 ballot will be shorter, though the Secretary of State’s office already has several tax proposals and a home rule charter amendment on tap.

The State Bond Commission on Thursday will take up 10 more for December that local officials in Calcasieu, DeSoto, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, St. Mary, Union, Webster and West Carroll parishes have put forward.

Most are not parishwide in scope and would support various fire protection, drainage, water and hospital service districts.

For example, St. Mary is asking for additional money for public schools, the Webster Parish Council on Aging is seeking funding for facilities and programs and West Carroll wants to pay for solid waste disposal.

Last week, LaPolitics took a look at the local propositions on the November ballot and the political landscape local props will face. Subscribers can read that here.

Also this week:

— The Amite River Basin Drainage & Water Conservation District and the Commission on the Equitable Distribution of Certain Ad Valorem Taxes both are set to meet today at 10 a.m., with the latter hosting a presentation by the newly reconstituted Louisiana Tax Commission.

— The Emergency Beetle Subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 1 p.m.

— The Gaming Control Board meets Thursday at 10 a.m., while the Amite River Basin/Comite River Diversion Canal Task Force convenes later that day at noon. 

Howey Daily Wire Aug. 13, 2024

Posted on by Howey Politics Indiana

Good morning!

State Affairs reports Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick called for changes to the state’s proposed high school diplomas, and discussions to cut the state’s individual income tax seem to have stalled. More news below. — Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs

McCormick calls for state to keep academic honors diploma: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick called for state education officials to preserve Indiana’s academic honors diploma or establish an equally rigorous substitute amid an ongoing rulemaking process. (Meeks, State Affairs)

Push to ax Indiana’s income tax loses momentum: Debate surrounding what Hoosiers pay in property taxes has picked up steam, but support for an even larger tax cut has all but eroded in the past year. (Appleton, State Affairs)

STATE

Federal court rules against state’s limits on super PAC contributions: A federal appeals court has sided with the push by attorney James Bopp to void a state law prohibiting corporations from giving money to super PACs. (Davies, State Affairs)

Homeland Security Director Thacker leaving for Carmel position: Joel Thacker is resigning as executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to become Carmel’s fire chief, making him the second top Holcomb administration official to leave for a position with the city. (Davies, State Affairs)

Judge spares Gary gunmaker lawsuit, rejects new law’s retroactivity: A Lake County judge declined to dismiss a long-pending lawsuit waged by the city of Gary against a range of gun manufacturers and dealers, writing that the General Assembly “cannot end this lawsuit” with a law passed during the recent legislative session. (Muñiz, Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Elliott: Israeli bonds among Indiana’s best-performing investments — Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, who increased the state’s holdings in Israeli bonds to $110 million earlier this year, says the bonds remain a good investment. (Gallenberger, Lakeshore Public Media)

Hoosier home sales picking up: Falling mortgage rates and a rising home supply resulted in a 7% increase in sales from June to July and a 6% increase compared to July 2023. Statewide, the median sale price dropped to $264,000 from $273,000 in June. (Mazurek, Inside Indiana Business)

ISP accepting applications for 87th recruit class: The Indiana State Police is accepting applications for the 87th Recruit Academy for traditional and lateral applicants. (Verbanic, WTHI-TV)

Lawsuit alleges police and prosecutors in Indy take cash from FedEx packages without due cause: The Institute for Justice is filing a class action lawsuit claiming police and prosecutors are trying to seize any cash that gets mailed through the FedEx Express World Hub near the Indianapolis International Airport. (Potter, WTHR-TV)

Study: Growing need to retain state’s educated engineers — “There is a growing need to retain Indiana’s domestically educated engineers to work on many of the new (and some quite large) economic development projects,” according to a study by the Research and Analysis Division of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. (Corn & Petro, INcontext)

Purdue, Lilly formalize medical research collaboration: A news release announced the establishment of the Eli Lilly and Co. and Purdue University Research Alliance Center to advance “bold science through discovery, innovation, education and technology transfer to improve health outcomes around the world.” (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

IU, Innocence Project join to form Indiana chapter: The new chapter of the Innocence Project is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Criminal Justice and Maurer School of Law, with funding support from a Herbert Simon Family Foundation grant. (Sharke, Indiana Lawyer)

Indiana National Guard names new brigadier general: The Indiana National Guard promoted Cathy Eaken to brigadier general. She is now the deputy commanding general for sustainment for the Guard’s 38th Infantry Division. (Dick, Inside Indiana Business)

Indy’s Caine to lead National Medical Association: Dr. Virginia Caine was appointed president of the National Medical Association. She is director and chief medical officer of the Marion County Public Health Department and associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. (Indianapolis Recorder)

LOCAL

Hogsett apologizes as council moves to investigate response to alleged sexual harassment: In bipartisan votes Monday evening, the Indianapolis City-County Council took the first steps toward both investigating the Hogsett administration’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against a top aide and improving the reporting process for such accusations. (McDaniel & Colombo, IndyStar)

Hogsett’s $1.6B city-county budget proposal includes more support for police, transportation: Mayor Joe Hogsett debuted his $1.6 billion budget package, packed with a slew of cross-department initiatives intended to foster greater public safety and more infrastructure and quality of life efforts. (Charron & Wooten, IBJ)

Lafayette elementary school tests 4-day school week: Students at Vinton Elementary School in Lafayette will add an hour and a half to their school days this year, but they’ll only go to school Monday through Thursday. (Adair, WFYI-FM)

Jefferson County commissioners ok agreement to share chip seal equipment with Scott County: The Jefferson County commissioners have approved an interlocal agreement for the highway departments of Jefferson and Scott counties to share the cost of purchasing equipment for chip seal operations to maintain roads in both counties. (Demaree, Madison Courier)

IU’s Whitten, Purdue’s Chiang urge Indy business leaders to be part of post-IUPUI vision: The presidents of Indiana and Purdue universities encouraged local business leaders to be a part of the new vision for the colleges’ separate identities in Indianapolis now that the joint venture long known as IUPUI has dissolved. (Charron, IBJ)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Tomorrow: Andrade to host mental health roundtable in Munster — State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, will host a Mental Health Roundtable to discuss Northwest Indiana’s mental health needs and available resources at 10 a.m. CT at the Munster Town Hall, according to an email to Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs.

Artificial Intelligence Task Force to meet Aug. 21: A notice posted to the General Assembly online calendar announced the Artificial Intelligence Task Force will meet at 2 p.m. Aug. 21 in Room 404 of the Statehouse. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

CONGRESS

Young applauds committee passage of Healthcare Cybersecurity Act: U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., announced the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the Healthcare Cybersecurity Act, bipartisan legislation he helped introduce earlier this month, according to an email to Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs.

Baird holding out hope for a new farm bill this year: “I hope the Senate will have a change of heart, and maybe an election and politics might have a factor in that, and in so doing they will present their version of the farm bill, and then we can reconcile that and get something done,” U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., told Eric Pfeiffer of Hoosier Ag Today.

Yakym: Inflation and border biggest concerns — U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., discussed the economy, the electric vehicle industry and the 2024 presidential race with Julianna Furfari of WSBT-TV.

Congressional schedule: The Senate and House are out.

CAMPAIGNS

Today: Lieutenant governor candidates debate at state fairgrounds — The candidates for Indiana lieutenant governor – Republican Micah Beckwith, Democrat Terry Goodin and Libertarian  Tonya Hudson – will face off at 3 p.m. in the Purdue Extension Building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The event will be livestreamed. (Fradette, WFYI-FM)

PRESIDENTIAL 2024

Pro-Trump super PAC plans $100M ad blitz: MAGA Inc, the principal Trump-aligned super PAC, announced commercials will air in seven Rust Belt and Sun Belt states that are likely to determine the outcome of the election. (Politico)

FBI probes Trump hack as Harris team says it was also targeted in attempt that failed: The FBI confirmed it is investigating allegations that Iranian cyber agents breached Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in another case of foreign intelligence services targeting U.S. elections, as the Kamala Harris campaign revealed it was the victim of a failed hack attempt. (USA Today)

Survey: More voters trust Harris than Trump on economy — More voters say they trust Vice President Kamala Harris to handle the economy than they do former President Donald Trump, according to a poll released by the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. (The Hill)

NATION

Elections officials battle a deluge of disinformation: Increasingly, the nation’s elections officials must multitask as defenders against disinformation and its consequences. (The New York Times)

Storms and wildfires swamp FEMA as disaster funds dry up: The nation’s disaster agency is being stretched to the limit by a spate of storms and wildfires so far in 2024, and the busiest time of year for the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just beginning. (Roll Call)

White House schedule: President Joe Biden will receive the Daily Brief at 10 a.m. before departing for New Orleans where the president and first lady Jill Biden will deliver remarks on how the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is fast-tracking progress to prevent, treat and detect cancer. The couple will return to the White House in the evening. Vice President Kamala Harris will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff.

Primary casualties: Speakers McNally, Sexton lose key committee chairs

Posted on by Andy Sher

The heads of the Tennessee House and Senate are ruing the political loss of two key committee chairs who were unseated in Republican primaries earlier this month.

For Senate Speaker Randy McNally, it was the defeat of Senate Education Chair Jon Lundberg of Bristol. In House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s case, it was the loss of Finance Chair Patsy Hazlewood of Signal Mountain.

Lundberg sponsored Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s latest private school voucher effort, which failed to pass during this year’s session. Bobby Harshbarger of Kingsport, a voucher skeptic, received almost 52% of the vote and benefitted from the name and political network of his mother, U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger. But that wasn’t all Harshbarger had going in his favor.

Public school teachers, who make up a potent voting block despite Republican efforts to diminish the influence of the Tennessee Education Association, turned out against Lundberg — just as they had when Republican Rep. Matthew Hill was defeated in the 2020 primary a year after throwing his weight behind Lee’s Education Savings Account bill the previous year. 

And then former President Donald Trump lobbed in his endorsement of Bobby Harshbarger.

“It was very low turnout,” McNally told The Tennessee Journal. “I thought things were a lot closer until the Trump endorsement. That hurt.”

McNally said he likes Trump but that he “didn’t like that.”

“I figured it’d be better to leave state business to the state and particularly election-wise,” he said. 

Meanwhile, McNally, who supports vouchers, also wasn’t happy that a pro-voucher group helped unseat Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plain. A staunch conservative whom he’s known for decades, Niceley opposes vouchers. While McNally disagreed with Niceley on that, he said they shared common ground elsewhere in some cases.

“They went after Frank, I would think if they knew how the Legislature worked, they’d be more supportive of incumbents who are friendly to their cause,” McNally said.

Niceley lost to Jessie Seal of New Tazewell who was aided by substantial independent expenditures from a pro-voucher group despite declining to say publicly where he stood on the issue. Seal won nearly 56% of the vote.

Hazlewood faced ‘constitutional conservative’

On the Republican-led House side, Sexton is now dealing with the defeat of Hazlewood to political newcomer Michele Reneau

The challenger was one of multiple hard-right candidates this year campaigning as a “constitutional conservative.” While most of the others failed to gain much traction, Reneau prevailed with just shy of 51% of the votes in her contest.

Some Hamilton County Republicans were upset that Hazelwood unload on her opponent with negative ads or mail. 

Sexton said he wasn’t sitting on the sidelines.

“We did get involved, just because you didn’t see everything on the surface, that doesn’t mean people weren’t involved,” Sexton said.

“If you look at her campaign and see that she didn’t go negative, right? So I don’t know if she refused to or not,” he said. “She ran the race that she felt comfortable running. And it was very tight and very close.”

In the middle of early voting, some Chattanooga Republicans created a website attacking Reneau. It depicted the candidate wearing a tinfoil hat. It wasn’t enough to derail the challenge.

Sexton said Hazlewood won the early vote but lost the race in election day turnout. He demured when asked whether Hazlewood should have gone on the attack — she was being labeled as a RINO by the Tennessee Conservative website.

“Well, we can all armchair quarterback the next day after the election,” he said. “That was a decision she made with her campaign consultant on what she wanted to do. Everybody would do it a little bit differently, especially in hindsight. 

“You play the cards you want to play. It was extremely tight, it came down to the last precinct more or less,” Sexton said.

The speaker called Hazlewood’s defeat a big loss because of her experience,  knowledge and “the depth of what she knows and for Chattanooga.”

“It’s a loss for them. It’s a loss for me,” he said. “So next year we’ll regroup and figure out what we’re going to do and what direction we’re going to move [on who will be the next Finance chair]. She was a great member, a great partner and she’s going to be missed dearly.”

Another House incumbent who lost was House Government Operations Chair Jon Ragan of Oak Ridge, a voucher supporter who was defeated by Rick Scarbough, a former Clinton police chief.

“Every race is going to be close unless you know which people will turn out,” Sexton said. “It was tough and tight. Unfortunately he lost. [Ragan] was a great member, a great part of our caucus. We’re going to miss him.”

Asked when and whom he may elevate to replace them, Sexton chuckled and added that would come in “due time.”

“I’ve got to go through the next caucus election first,” he said.

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