Tag Archives: district 2

On Democrat Dotson, Rep. Tony Shipley’s November Opponent

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Democrat Bruce Dotson wants Tennessee 2nd House District voters to know he is an honest, Christian gun owner who has worked hard all his life, reports Hank Hayes.
But despite those assets, Dotson knows he’s a long shot to defeat GOP incumbent state Rep. Tony Shipley in the November general election in a Kingsport area district that leans heavily Republican.
Dotson, a retired mechanic and president of the AFL-CIO’s Upper East Central Labor Council, said he’s not getting monetary support from the Tennessee Democratic Party even though he is a member of the party’s executive committee.
“My race is not targeted (by TDP), which is not unusual for this end of the state,” Dotson noted. “In order to get help from the state party or even the state AFL-CIO, you have to prove you can win before they are willing to put a lot of money into it. The state AFL-CIO is going to put out some mailers, but those will go to union members.”
Dotson’s campaign reported having $1,782 cash on hand before the Aug. 2 primary election, when he won the Democratic nomination with about 500 votes. In contrast, Shipley reported having $18,256 cash on hand, including a number of political action committee contributions, before recording a 10-vote win in the GOP primary over former Kingsport Alderman Ben Mallicote out of about 6,800 votes cast.
Dotson agreed with Shipley’s recent assertion that numerous Democrats voted in the Republican primary and almost propelled Mallicote to victory.
“What I’ve heard people say down through the years is ‘I’ll vote in the Republican primary, and I’ll vote for the weakest or worst candidate. That way we’ll have a better chance as Democrats,'” Dotson explained. “But I discourage that. What that does is you end up with … the worst candidate, and I don’t like to see that. I did have people tell me they did have people vote in the Republican primary — people I’ve got on a list as being Democrats. I’m sure that was a factor. And Mallicote was the best candidate.”

Overbey’s Bipartisanship a Liability?

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State Sen. Doug Overbey, a Maryville lawyer, has pocketed a passel of endorsements in the 2nd District Senate Republican primary, observes Greg Johnson.
Newspapers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Education Association endorsed Overbey, along with Republican heavyweights Gov. Bill Haslam and, a bit surprisingly, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a tea party favorite.
Given his opponent, Overbey needs all the help he can get.
Scott Hughes, chief financial officer for a Knoxville church and former pro-life executive, is challenging Overbey at every turn, in every way. Though Overbey maintains an enormous financial advantage, Hughes has loquaciously roughed up Overbey in debates.
At a June debate in Sevierville — the 2nd District includes all of Blount County and much of Sevier — Hughes had Overbey back on his heels, out-arguing the lawyer with a withering, well-researched attack on Overbey’s record. Hughes’ verbal pugilism aims to make Overbey the moderate, a characterization sure to stick with some voters.
In fact, TEA’s lead lobbyist, Jerry Winters, said when endorsing Overbey and a few other Republicans, “The people we endorsed in Republican primaries are moderate Republicans who have voted pro-public education.” TEA’s political action committee donated to Overbey, though the group historically gives more than 90 percent of its contributions to Democrats.
Overbey isn’t backing away from the TEA endorsement, citing it on his website under the headline, “Teachers Endorse Doug Overbey.” Education is, no doubt, an important issue for Overbey. In 2008, he ousted incumbent Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, after Finney voted for changes to school funding formulas that led to both Sevier and Blount counties receiving much less money from the state.
Hughes, a Seymour resident, is supported by the Tennessee Conservative Fund, a tea party PAC, which wrote in its endorsement, “Hughes is a full-fledged conservative who has vowed to protect life and Tennessee’s sovereignty under the Constitution.” Significantly, Hughes is backed by Peggy Lambert, a longtime Blount County GOP activist and Republican National Committee member.
At the June debate, Overbey said, “I will work with anybody willing to reach out a hand of goodwill to do what’s right for the state of Tennessee.” Could such bi-partisanship burn him?

Overbey Poll Shows Senator Way Ahead of Challenger Hughes

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Here’s a memo on a poll commissioned by Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, by North Star Opinion Research, who is seeking reelection in Senate District 2 against Republican primary challenger Scott Hughes. It was provided by the Overbey campaign in response to a request for poll information to the senator during an interview last week.
To: Interested Parties
From: Dan Judy
Date: June 22, 2012
Re: Senator Doug Overbey’s Standing Among Senate District 2 Republican Primary
Voters
Our firm conducted a survey of 300 likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee’s 2nd State Senate District May 15-17, 2012, with a margin of error of ±5.66 percent. The results show that Senator Overbey is very popular among these voters, and enjoys a wide lead on the primary ballot. The key findings are:
• Senator Overbey enjoys a favorable-to-unfavorable rating of better than ten-to-one.
Overbey’s favorable-unfavorable rating among these Republican primary voters is 70 to
6 percent.
• Senator Overbey is strong among his conservative base. Overbey has a 66 to 7
percent favorable-unfavorable rating among voters who consider themselves “very
conservative” (over half of the electorate), as well as a 68 to 6 percent rating among
voters who support the Tea Party movement (over two-thirds of the electorate).
• Voters overwhelmingly approve of the job Doug Overbey has done as state senator.
Seventy percent of these voters approve of the job Senator Overbey has done, while just 8
percent disapprove.
• Senator Overbey currently enjoys a wide lead on the primary ballot. Overbey leads
challenger Scott Hughes by a 69 to 9 percent margin, with 22 percent of voters
undecided.
Senator Overbey’s ratings are impressive, particularly during a time of unprecedented voter cynicism about elected officials. He begins his reelection campaign in a strong position.