Author: Trace Sharp

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Politics Politics Beat Blog

Tennessee Democrats tap Mary Mancini as Democratic Party chair

CREDIT: Steve Ross

Steve Ross

New chair of the TNDP Mary Mancini

NASHVILLE — For the first time in Tennessee Democratic Party history, a woman has been voted in as chair. Mary Mancini of Nashville won 61 votes from the party’s state committee on Saturday, versus 9 for runner-up Lenda Sherell.

“Voted in” is the key phrase, as Jane Eskind, who led the party in the ‘90s, was appointed to the position, but Mancini was the first woman to be directly elected.

That two women, Mancini and Sherell (who gave Republican 4th District congressman Scott DesJarlais a run for his money in the 2014 election), were the finalists was also an historical first.

Mancini, who was a candidate for the state Senate last year, is a former blogger and radio announcer, as well as a small businessperson and filmmaker. She entered public life as an activist and continued as proprietor of Liberadio and director of Tennessee Citizens Action.

One factor in her election was that she has always been a strong supporter of grassroots politics in Tennessee, while still maintaining relationships with the fund-raising community.

Wade Munday, another Nashvillian who was a candidate for chair in 2011 and was reelected partu treasurer inSaturday’s election said, “This is the first day of a great two years ahead for Tennessee Democrats. By 2016, we will have another Democrat in the White House and more democrats in Nashville. We have a lot of reasons to be more hopeful than before.”

Those sentiments were seconded by Shelby County Democratic Party chair and current democratic operative Matt Kuhn, another former candidate for chair, who said, “Mary will lead a much more unified party because of the consensus style in which the election took place. Compared to years past, the stage is set for the many players to work together.”

Kuhn added, “Mary Mancini will be a great conductor for the progressives in Tennessee.”

Saturday’s meeting ran long, and at the end of it outgoing chairman Roy Herron, on his feet again after a recent heart attack, gave his last speech as chair, reminding the executive committee,” We defeated the Koch Brothers, and we won five out of seven targeted races.”

In her acceptance speech following election, Mancini told the executive committee, “Each of us has a role to play. Now is the time for us to step up, And I quote, ‘We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.'”

Long-term activist and political consultant Alma Sanford was pleased by the decision, noting that 223 years after Andrew Jackson created the Democratic Party, a woman had finally been elected to lead the party.

“It’s a good day,” Sanford said.

Memphis blogger and democratic activist Steve Ross said he was glad about the vote for Mancini.

“It’s good to see someone take the helm for the TNDP from the activist side of the party instead of from the establishment,” Ross said. “We couldn’t continue doing what we are doing, not gaining ground. I think we have are going to be okay now.”

After the day’s event, Mancini said, “The most exciting thing about being elected chair of TNDP is the opportunity I’ll have to work with Democrats from all over the state and from all walks of life who are fired up and ready to go. I’m not in this alone.”

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Opinion Viewpoint

A Primer for Candidates

The big thing about deciding to run is pretty simple. Are you ready, and do you have a plan?

John Jay Hooker said on his 80th birthday, when he was honored on the floor of the Senate, that one thing to know about him is that he wasn’t afraid to lose. And he didn’t win the two times he ran for governor (1966 and 1970) for a variety of reasons, but his subsequent advice is quite valuable for anyone running for office: You don’t always have to win to make a contribution.  

It used to be that people would wait their turn to run for office. Those days are over. We live in a new world order when it comes to modern politics. There are no longer “annointed ones” who are awaiting their time to serve.

You are going to need money, and time to make phone calls is crucial in the early days of getting financial commitments. Can you do that on your own or do you need help? It’s something anyone running for office needs to think about.  

If you aren’t ready to run for elected office (and some people aren’t, because, God knows, a person has to be in it for the long haul), there are other things that can be done. Run for executive committee for your party. It’s a way of learning the ins and outs of what is involved in political campaigns.

A few suggestions:

You can’t do it all by yourself. You are going to need support staff. When you are doing call time, remember: Your campaign is only as good as its weakest link. Make sure each of your staff members is ready. Can you afford a couple of folks who will make your transition from call time to candidate seamless? You are going to need to be able to. It’s important.

And trust is also important, since it’s your name on the ballot, no one else’s. You might also want to ask yourself: Is my campaign team in it for the paycheck or do they believe in me? The answer, quite frankly, is usually both, because folks have to eat. But if they believe in your message, they will work harder for you during the election year.

You need to give a clear and concise example to voters in your bailiwick about why you are the best person to serve. Don’t talk at people, talk to them — and listen. Your message matrix needs to be on topic and your stump speeches need to be short. People want to be able to get a sense of who you are and what you can do. They don’t want a monologue that rivals Othello’s and leaves them without a clear message.

Talk to people who have worked campaigns before, and even if you can’t hire them full-time, it’s worthwhile to get honest and clear feedback from a professional who knows the ropes. It’s even worth a limited hourly consulting fee, if you have it, to talk to someone who has had some skin in the game.

If you are doing your own social media, don’t be robotic; be a person who folks want to know. And be sure to interact with your followers. Keep your messaging personal and clearly under your control, or it will get hijacked. You don’t want that.

National issues will come up, but don’t go down that rabbit hole. Are plants closing in your area? Talk about that. Is your hospital closing due to the lack of Medicaid expansion? Talk about that. Is unemployment going through the roof in your district? Talk about that.

Talking about Chris Christie when you only have about 15 minutes will eat up your time and accomplish nothing except helping or hurting a governor who is a long way from Tennessee.

Now is the time that candidates (especially new ones) begin the journey to run for elected office. Running the race is just as important as getting to the finish line. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And good luck!

Trace Sharp is executive director of the Crockett Policy Institute. A version of this column originally appeared in the CPI Buzz.

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Opinion Viewpoint

Crazy Is Everywhere

We’ve been talking around this country about Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the six victims who lost their lives at a meet-and-greet at a Safeway in Tucson.

I was reminded by a friend of mine that we have seen this sort of thing here in Tennessee, although it was a different time, and the murderer had a different motive. It wasn’t a shooting spree in a grocery store parking lot, but it was still a very odd and sad moment in Tennessee political history.

In 1998, Democratic state senator Tommy Burks was shot on his farm in Monterey, Tennessee, by opponent Byron “Low Tax” Looper, who was working as the Putnam County tax assessor at the time, in one of the most bizarre murders that this state has ever seen.

Looper had been indicted on a variety of charges for official misconduct in the months before the murder but was still seeking the Senate seat and went as far as to change his middle name officially to Low Tax. At the time, he was a mild blip on the radar for newsies like myself, who basically saw him as a self-promoting clown and ringmaster of the politically bizarre.

Little did we know that he wanted to win so badly that he thought the only way he would see the inside of the Senate chambers was to get rid of Burks, which was his plan: kill Burks, become a senator, and rule the land, I guess. The strategy that Looper basically had, or at least that was discussed in court, was that if Burks was dead, then Looper could win as he would be the only person on the ballot.   

Burks was working on his farm, preparing for a group of students to visit the family’s pumpkin patch that day. Business as usual, as the saying goes.

Although I don’t know the actual juxtaposition of events, we do know that ultimately Looper shot Burks in the face. His body was found behind the wheel of his pick-up truck, his head resting against the steering wheel. Authorities say he died instantly.

Looper went to a friend of his named Joe Bonds, who was a Marine recruiter, in the hours after the execution. Bonds ultimately was the star witness during the murder trial and testified that Looper said, “I killed that guy. I busted a cap in his head,” according to court records. No one saw Looper for four days after the shooting, and Bonds testified that he came to see him in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is highly suspicious for a Southern politician not to at least offer sympathy to the family after a tragedy of this nature. It is even more suspicious when they disappear from the planet.

What was so odd about this case is that Looper, after being arrested, continued his campaign from jail. Burks’ widow, Charlotte, worked on a write-in campaign with friends and family to fill her husband’s seat.

The issue was that Looper could have won the race in the 15th on a technicality that, at the time, a dead man’s name cannot appear on the ballot. Charlotte Burks won the race easily, replacing her husband, and was the first candidate ever to win a seat in the Senate in Tennessee on a write-in campaign. Keep in mind that she had to do this campaign quickly, in the wake of her husband’s murder. The murder took place on October 19, 1998, and the election was November 3rd, just so you have an idea of the timeline of the events.

Looper’s plan for getting elected did not work.

Looper’s trial took forever, with a revolving door of defense attorneys representing Looper only to either be relieved of services or quitting their client. Once the case went to trial, it didn’t take a jury long to convict Looper of first degree murder without the possibility of parole.

Just a bit of history, reminding us that crazy is everywhere.

Trace Sharp is assistant director of the Mary Parish Center, a transitional center for battered women, in Nashville.