Tag Archives: Democratic

Need a job? TNDP is hiring

Recent resignations have left the Tennessee Democratic Party with four open staff positions, including the executive director position vacated by Kevin Teets. (Recent post HERE).

Yesterday, the party was sending around the following email:
The TNDP is now accepting applications for four positions: Executive Director, Deputy Fundraising Director, Data and Digital Manager, and Office Manager. To learn more about the jobs that are available and how you or someone you know can apply, simply click here.

The TNDP is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate against any individual in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity, family responsibilities, disability, military or veteran status or any basis prohibited by law.

Mark Clayton Sues TNDP

Mark Clayton, the out-of-nowhere candidate who won the 2012 U.S. Senate Democratic primary election and was promptly disavowed by the Tennessee Democratic Party, has sued the party and dozens of its officials, according to The Tennessean.

In a lawsuit filed this week, Clayton says party leaders, including then-Chairman Chip Forrester, “constructively voided his primary victory by publicly stating that they disavowed him as the nominee, that he was not really the party nominee and that he was not really a Democrat and generally treating his nomination as if it did not happen.”
Gerard Stranch, an attorney for the Tennessee Democratic Party, said the suit “is clearly without merit” and that the party would be filing a motion to dismiss it. He declined to elaborate.

Clayton, whose name was first on the ballot, won the seven-candidate primary by a landslide on Aug. 2, 2012. His victory stunned and embarrassed Democratic officials, who had failed to recruit a more formidable contender.

The state party quickly disassociated itself from Clayton, saying he had rarely voted for anyone but himself in Democratic primaries and that he belonged to an anti-gay hate group, Public Advocate of the United States. The party urged voters to write in any other name during the general election in November.

…The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Circuit Court, says officials forcibly removed Clayton from party headquarters when he asked to review records last October and that they made false and misleading statements about him.

It asks that they be found in violation of state law, fined $500 each and charged with court costs and “reasonable attorney fees.”
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Note: A news release/statement sent by Clayton to media is below.
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Kyle More Interested in Running for Judge Than for Governor

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Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle joined his House counterpart Wednesday in declaring disinterest in running for governor, even though he waged a brief campaign for the office in 2010.
“I haven’t thought about it,” said Kyle, D-Memphis, adding that he had hoped House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley would run. As for himself, Kyle said he is not really interested, though stopping short of absolutely ruling it out.
“I’ve thought more about ‘do I want to leave the Senate and become a judge or do I want to stay in the Senate.’ That is the decision I’ve got to make between now and the end of the year,” he said. “That’s what I’ve focused all of my energy on.”
Fitzhugh, who has toyed with the idea of running for governor since December, said earlier this week that he has decided to instead seek re-election to his West Tennessee House seat and another term as head of House Democrats.
Kyle ran briefly for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2012, then withdrew — along with three other Democrats who initially declared themselves candidates, including the party’s current chairman, former state Sen. Roy Herron. Dresden businessman Mike McWherter won the nomination, then lost to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.

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Yarbro Bests Holleman in fundraising for state Senate seat

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Attorney Jeff Yarbro has taken a commanding fundraising lead in the Democratic primary to replace longtime state Sen. Douglas Henry, hauling in more than four times the figure of his opponent, Metro Councilman Jason Holleman, according to The Tennessean.
Yarbro raised $95,225 in the financial quarter that ended June 30, giving him a total war chest of $101,089, while Holleman raked in $22,200. The deadline to submit financial disclosures for 2014 state elections was Monday.
…Besides these two, no one else has publicly expressed intentions to run for District 21, which now stretches from West Nashville to parts of East Nashville and Madison after Republican-controlled redistricting.
The contest between Yarbro and Holleman, considered a bitter rivalry, is likely to be Davidson County’s most watched race in 2014. The winner would be heavily favored in the November general election.

Herron Foregoes Party Pay While Serving as Trial Lawyer

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State Democratic Chairman Roy Herron is foregoing his party pay while acting as an attorney for the plaintiffs in an ongoing medical malpractice trial that he says could last “five or six weeks.”
Herron sent an email to fellow Democrats saying that he had committed more than five years ago to “a wonderful couple, both devout Democrats, that I would represent them in a case seeking medical care and redress for grievous injuries to their severely disabled grandson.”
In an interview Wednesday, Herron said Cody Wade, 17 at the time, underwent surgery on his trachea that allegedly left him unable to breath for a period of time, resulting in severe disabilities. The lawsuit, brought by Cody’s grandparents and conservators, Reba and Ronnie Wade of Martin, is against HealthSouth King Creek Rehabilitation Hospital and two physicians.
A jury trial began Monday in Weakley County Circuit Court.
Herron said he decided to forego his salary as party chairman starting May 15, when he attended a son’s college graduation, and will continue in that status until the trial has ended and he can resume fulltime duties as party chair.
The former state senator said that, in effect, he is returning temporarily to the “volunteer chairman model” followed by seven of the last ten state Democratic chairmen. His two immediate predecessors, Gray Sasser and Chip Forrester, were full-time chairs with a full salary – as was he until now.
Herron said he still expects to average 80 hours per week for the full year, since he often spends 100 hours per week on party labors otherwise. Even during the trial, Herron said he is remaining active in fundraising, overseeing staff including the hiring of a new deputy finance director and other duties.
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Note: Text of Herron’s email is below.

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Partisan Views on Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville

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Any thought that Rep. Gloria Johnson might not be top target for the state Republican party next year — and that the Democratic party will defend her — is surely eliminated by the following two post-session press releases,
First came this from the Tennessee Republican Party:
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–As lawmakers return home following the conclusion of the legislative session, Tennesseans are reviewing the public record of their lawmakers and some of what they are finding is embarrassing.
Take, for instance, the record of Representative Gloria Johnson (D–Knoxville).
In a short four-month period as a legislator, Rep. Johnson:
•Spent the last four months harassing and opposing Governor Bill Haslam’s common sense reform agenda for education and spending.
•Voted against a bill that protects doctors who provide free medical care to low-income patients who need urgent attention.
•Filed a self-serving bill she would personally benefit from.
•Supported the implementation of ObamaCare in Tennessee.
•Voted to strip worker’s rights protections from Tennessee law.
•Stood against Knox County teachers having the ability to protect students.
•Chose to not record a vote on a ban of the state income tax that would protect Tennessee families from having more of their hard-earned money taken by government.
•Voted against a balanced state budget that meets the needs of our state and cuts taxes for all Tennesseans.
•Voted against cutting the sales tax on groceries for all Tennesseans.
•Voted against phasing out the death tax to save Tennessee families and farms from being double-taxed on their assets.
•Voted against an initiative to find and remove examples of government waste.
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney made the following statement about Rep. Johnson’s legislative performance.
“Representative Johnson was sent to Nashville to represent her constituents and this dismal performance was anything but that. It is troubling to see that her priorities were not carrying and passing good legislation, but rather being focused on updating her social media accounts with personal attacks on our leaders. Tennesseans hold their elected officials to a higher standard and expect them to work tirelessly on their behalf. Instead, she put petty personal politics above what’s best for Tennessee.”
He concluded, “I look forward to talking about Gloria Johnson’s embarrassing track record with her constituents over the next year and a half.”
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Then, this from the Tennessee Democratic party:

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Democratic Legislators Join Protest Against Worker’s Comp Bill

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A few dozen people, including members of the Tennessee AFL-CIO and other labor groups, gathered on the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday afternoon to express their opposition Gov. Haslam’s proposed changes to workers’ compensation, according to TNReport.
The ralliers, waving signs and chanting “Save Workers’ Comp,” were joined by Democratic leaders from the state House of Representatives who address the crowd and promised to continue to oppose the reform measure, House Bill 194, sponsored by Republican Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner had strong words for the governor and GOP supermajority on the matter, calling the legislation “just wrong,” “shameful” and “immoral.” ”
This administration and this legislature have cut every tax they could cut on the wealthy and they’re paying for it on the backs of working people,” said the Old Hickory Democrat. “This workers comp bill is just one more example of that and it may be the worst of all that I have seen.”

Herron Blasts Voucher ‘Vultures’

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News release from Tennessee Democratic Party:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Roy Herron called the current private school voucher proposal another battle in the “Republican War against public schools” today at a press conference in Nashville.
Herron derided the influence of big special interests, which accounts for about $2 million of known spending in the effort to allow public tax dollars to flow into private institutions.
At least four special interest groups are spending big money to push vouchers in Tennessee, including
•The Beacon Center of Tennessee, which has been funded by Washington, D.C.-based special interests, is currently airing deceptive television ads in Tennessee;
•Students First, which has spent at least $900,000 on lobbying and candidate contributions;
•The American Federation for Children is spending $800,000 on advertising supporting private school vouchers; and
•the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conglomeration of big corporate backers that hosts conferences for state legislators annually, is a longtime supporter of privatization and school vouchers.
Herron’s prepared remarks can be read below:

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Bill Exempts Party Executive Committee Members from Disclosure

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A House subcommittee approved Wednesday legislation (HB884) that exempts members of the Democratic and Republican state executive committees from filing conflict-of-interest reports required of state and local government officials and candidates for elective office.
House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said he sponsored the bill at the request of “a couple” of Republican Executive Committee members and also talked with some Democratic legislators, who said they had no objections.
McCormick said that, since the executive committee members have no oversight of taxpayer dollars, they feel there is no reason to require disclosure of their financial interests – which makes some of them uncomfortable. He expressed willingness to modify the measure, or even drop it, if there are objections. But none came from the committee.
Brent Leatherwood, executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, said the party had nothing to do with proposing the bill, but thinks it is a good idea.
“This is a bipartisan effort that relieves party activists, who are not in a policy-making capacity, from an unnecessary government regulation,” Leatherwood said in an email.

Larry Crim Files as Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate

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News release from Larry Crim campaign:
According to a Federal Election Commission Statement of Candidacy filed with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C., Larry Crim of Nashville, Tennessee has officially announced his Democratic candidacy for United States Senate (TN) in 2014.
Records on file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Public Records Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Senate reflect that Crim is the only Democratic Party candidate from Tennessee to file a FEC Statement of Candidacy for U.S. Senate in 2014 at this time.
Mr. Crim will seek the Democratic party’s nomination in August 2014. If Crim wins the Democratic primary, he will face the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in the November 2014 general election. The current republican incumbent in the U.S. Senate is Lamar Alexander, whose term is up in 2014. Alexander has announced he will run again.

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