Tag Archives: district 8

On Senate District 8 and a Campaign Relationship

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The four-candidate race in Senate District has been reviews Hank Hayes. An excerpt.
Jackson, meanwhile, is hoping her name identification in Hawkins County
— the district’s largest county in population — will push her ahead,
although she finished third in the 2010 GOP Primary for the county
mayor’s race.
“I have put out more than 1,000 signs…I’m running a retail campaign,
going door-to-door and seeing people face to face,” said Jackson, a Realtor.
Rice, however, takes issue with Jackson’s connection to former state
Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens, a Rogersville Democrat.
“I signed her (nominating) petition; (but) I told her that after quite a
bit of encouragement from the leadership of the Republican Party in our
district (and beyond ), that I had also decided to run for the state
Senate seat,” Rice said in an e-mail. “She stood up and looked extremely
upset; then told me that Ken Givens was going to be able to raise quite
a bit of ($249,000) money for her and that I couldn’t raise near that
much and that (Givens) could get Democrats to cross over and vote in the
Republican Primary.”
In response to Rice’s e-mail, Jackson said: “I did not say anything like
that….We didn’t discuss anything about money. He must have a bad
memory or he is not telling the truth.”
Givens, a former state representative and a widower, acknowledged he’s
in a relationship with Jackson.
“When she announced she was running for state Senate, I would think that
most people would understand that someone seeing someone would probably
support them,” Givens explained. “…If I’m from Hawkins County, it
would only make sense that I would want somebody from Hawkins County
whether I was seeing Cynthia or not…I’m not ashamed or timid that I
would back a Hawkins Countian…I don’t have any plan to go after
Democrat votes. That’s something people decide for themselves.”
Aside from attacking Jackson, Rice said he’s focusing on jobs and
education in his campaign appearances.
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Note: The full article is below.

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Of Horse Slaughter, Deer, Milk and Senate District 8 Campaign

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Horse slaughter, deer farming and raw milk sales might be ignored in most political campaigns, but not in this summer’s four-candidate, six-county Republican primary race that will decide who succeeds retiring state Sen. Mike Faulk.
“The horse is a very intelligent animal. In my personal opinion and the opinion of humane societies I’ve talked with, we don’t need to be killing them for human consumption,” said candidate Jeff Brantley of Sharp’s Chapel. “What’s next? Dogs and cats?”
Candidate Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains, as a state representative, has pushed legislation that would clear the way for operation of horse slaughter facilities. The bills have failed.
He has also unsuccessfully sponsored legislation that would legalize keeping whitetail deer in captivity and selling them — an idea Brantley said he also opposes.
Critics say such a move would raise the risk of Tennessee’s native whitetails becoming infected with illnesses brought in by imported, domesticated deer, including chronic wasting disease. Proponents say such concerns are mistaken and deer farming would be a new source of income in rural counties.

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Niceley to Run for State Senate Seat

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State Rep. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains said today he will seek the Republican nomination as successor to Sen. Mike Faulk of Church Hill.
“After 12 years in the House, I would like to serve in the Senate. Maybe I can do more for the district,” said Niceley.
Faulk announced last week that he will not seek reelection to the Senate District 8 seat, which covers Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson and Union counties.
Niceley ran for the same seat in 1992, winning the Republican nomination over former state Rep. Bruce Hurley but losing in the general election to Democrat Danny Wallace by about 700 votes out of 40,000 cast..
That was the year of “the Clinton landslide,” when Bill Clinton and Tennessee Sen. Al Gore carried the state in the presidential election, Niceley said.
“I don’t expect a landslide this year for the Democrats,” he said.