Tag: Democratic Party

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Hendrell Remus (Photo: Tennessee Democratic Party)

“Shock waves” is too strong a term for the reaction, but a fair number of eyebrows have been raised by the surprise action of state Democratic Party chair Hendrell Remus in removing from power local Shelby County party chair Lexie Carter.

The action took place Thursday following a Zoom call between Carter, Remus, and others. Invoking what the state chair said was the absolute authority of the state party over local parties, Remus said Carter had not measured up to the needs of a coordinated Democratic campaign for the fall election.

He mentioned specifically the campaigns for District 97 state representative of Jesse Huseth, who opposes Republican incumbent John Gillespie, and that of Gloria Johnson of Knoxville against GOP U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Remus said he had sent a questionnaire to Carter asking for details of the local party’s readiness for election activity and received insufficient information in response.

Carter professed to be taken by surprise by her removal, having just, as she maintained, presided over the local party’s annual Kennedy Day banquet on September 5th and grossed upwards of $40,000 for party coffers.

She alleged that a number of disagreements and confrontations had occurred between herself and Remus at the recently concluded Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Remus had apparently been considering the removal action well in advance, having discussed the possibility with potential ad hoc successors to Carter the previous week. 

He said he would appoint four temporary co-chairs to guide the Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) until December, when a local party election would be held. The Flyer has learned that two of those invited to serve in that capacity are outgoing state Rep. Dwayne Thompson and City Council Chair JB Smiley. 

Former local party chair and ex-County Commissioner Van Turner, who had assisted Carter in answering Remus’ questionnaire, raised concerns about due process in Carter’s removal and likened his action to the state Republican Party supermajority’s attempt to dominate over the actions of local government.

The new developments recalled the situation of 2016 when then-state Democratic chair Mary Mancini disbanded the Shelby County party following years of local controversy, including charges of embezzlement.

The local party was reconstituted in 2017 with Corey Strong as chair. So far, no names have surfaced as potential local candidates for the permanent chairmanship of SCDP.

As it happens, Remus will be giving up his own chairmanship in January, when his elected term ends. So far the only known candidate to succeed him is Rachel Campbell, chair of the Hamilton County (Chattanooga) Democratic Party and vice chair of the state party.

• Sarah Wilkerson Freeman, the Democratic nominee for the 8th District congressional seat, confirms that Susan Boujnah, a videographer who accompanied her to last month’s Democratic National Convention, is hard at work on an official campaign video, which will be released (presumably via social media) within the month.

Though Freeman has issued no formal debate challenge to Republican incumbent David Kustoff, Freeman observed that the NAACP will be holding an open forum for area candidates in Collierville on October 8th and that Kustoff is among those invited to participate.

Freeman, a resident of Germantown, likes to say she lives “within spitting distance” of her opponent.

• Former U.S. Senator Jim Sasser died at his North Carolina home last week. Sasser represented Tennessee in the Senate from 1977 to 1995 and later served as ambassador to Japan.

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Noted Tennessee Political Figure Roy Herron Dies

Roy Herron. (Photo by Jackson Baker).

Roy Herron, a longtime  influential member of the Tennessee political community,  died on Saturday from catastrophic injuries suffered in a jet ski accident a week earlier at Kentucky Lake, where the Herron family owned a lodging.

Herron, 69, had served several terms in the Tennessee state House of Representatives and later the state Senate. He was first elected to the House in 1986 to succeed fellow Dresden resident Ned McWherter, who was elected governor that same year. Herron later was a candidate for a seat in the U.S. Congress and served a term as chairman of the state Democratic Party.

He was pronounced dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he had been flown. He had never regained consciousness after the accident, which occurred when a personal watercraft containing himself and Kayla McDonald, a member of a group vacationing with his son Benjamin, was hit from the rear by another watercraft traveling at high speed. 

Most of the party were associates of the younger Herron, who was taking a weekend break from his studies at Emory University Medical School in Atlanta.

Reports indicate that, when their craft was struck, Herron was accompanying McDonald, who was driving to a pontoon float where other members of the party were gathered. McDonald’s injuries were also severe.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency identified the driver of the craft that collided with that of Herron and McDonald as 24-year-old Peter Fagachugad. Unconfirmed reports indicate that  Fagachugrad’s craft may also have contained an 11-year-old. The TWRA is continuing to investigate.

During his years in the legislature, which began when the Democrats held uncontested power in both chambers, it was widely considered an inevitability that he would ascend to higher office. He was highly personable and was well liked on both sides of the political aisle.

Ninth District Congressman Rep. Steve Cohen, who served in the legislature with Herron, remembered him as a spark-plug, a standout  orator,  and a key member of the Democratic contingent. “We all thought he was on his way to the top,” Cohen said.

He had served as Democratic caucus chair of the state Senate and declared for governor in 2010 before switching to a race for the 8th Congressional seat when the U.S. House incumbent, John Tanner, opted not to run for reelection.

As it turned out, 2010 was the watershed year when overall sentiment in Tennessee, long a Democratic stronghold, passed to the Republican Party, and Herron was defeated by Republican Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump. Herron’s election to a two-year term as state Democratic chair would come in 2013.
 
Along with his prowess in politics, Herron was a standout athlete, who ran numerous marathons and regularly participated in iron-man triathlons. He was also the author of four books and numerous articles. He was an Eagle Scout and an alumnus of the University of Tennessee-Martin and Vanderbilt University.

He was a devoted family man. Dennis Dugan of Memphis, where Herron spent much time, said, “We were close. He was much loved within the family and outside as well.”

The Rev. Nancy Carol Miller-Herron, Roy’s spouse of 36 years, said in a statement. “Roy loved his family with all his might. He passed doing what he loved most — spending time with our sons and their friends in the Tennessee outdoors where his spirit was always most free. Roy was defined most by the love and care he showed so many. We know his thoughts and prayers would now would be with our friend, Kayla McDonald, who was also injured in the collision and who is recovering from her injuries.”

The Tennessee House Democratic Caucus is mourning the passage of former state lawmaker Roy Herron. Herron served in the State Legislature for more than a quarter century, first as a State Representative for a decade and then as the State Senator for the 24th District for 16 more years.  He also served as Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper spoke on Herron’s love of people and his love of God:

“Roy loved his family and loved representing his neighbors in West Tennessee.  He always considered it an honor to be their voice in Nashville. He was also a God-fearing man who wrote books advising on how Christians can also serve in politics.”

House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons also spoke on Herron’s legacy:

“Throughout his life, Roy Herron worked tirelessly for the people of Tennessee.  As a lawmaker, I have sincerely appreciated and valued his sage advice and perspective over the years.  Roy was a true public a servant and a man of faith who loved his family, his fellow Tennesseans, and our great State.  Roy Herron will be missed by all.”

In addition to his wife, Herron is survived by his three sons, John, Rick, and Benjamin; his brother, Ben; and many cousins, nephews, and nieces. Arrangements for the funeral are pending, but it is expected to be held on Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Martin.

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Election 2018: Winners, Losers, and Close Calls

CREDIT: JB

JB

The thrill of victory was experienced by (l to r) Aaron Fowles, Steve Mulroy, and Racquel Collins, opponents of the losing referendum to repeal Instranr Runoff Voting.

Note: For reasons that remain obscure, the following text, published in the early morning of November 7, vanished from online, to be replaced by an earlier election-highlights brief that was posted on election night itself. I am happy to see the longer piece, like Lazarus, freed from untimely interment and restored. — jb

When the final report was done, the last round poured, the surviving hors-d’oeuvres wilted, the election results locally mirrored those nationally. There were lots of near misses, college tries, and moral victories — mainly among Democrats who had aspired to overturn the verdict of 2016 (or, in many ways, of the last few decades).

But the inherent limitations of the near miss, the college try, and the moral victory would rapidly become obvious as the reality of defeat and the resilience of the status quo sunk in.

The purest and most unsullied triumph locally was enjoyed by the band of activists in Save IRV Memphis and their sympathizers, who resisted a concentrated effort by the Memphis City Council on behalf of three ballot referenda that, the activists contended, were designed to protect the incumbency of Council members.

To start there, the count was 62,316 for and 104,431 against in the case of Ordinance No. 5669, which would have repealed the prior 2008 referendum authorizing IRV (a method of vote -counting that successively redistributes runner-up votes in a given race until a majority winner emerges). The vote was 67,220 for and 101,607 against for Ordinance No. 5676, which (via language that was ambivalent, to say the least) would have lengthened term limits for mayor and Council members from two to three four-year terms. And Ordinance No. 5677, which would have abolished runoff elections altogether, lost out by a vote of 77,223 for and 91,184 against.
The Democratic candidates, all first-time candidates, who attempted to oust Republican state legislators in the suburbs, made a good run of it, but fell short. In the most avidly watched race, Gabby Salinas, the three-time cancer survivor and budding scientist lost to incumbent District 31 state Senator Brian Kelsey by the relatively narrow margin of 40,313 for Kelsey to 38,793 for Salinas.

Republican incumbent Mark White turned back Democrat Danielle Schonbaum in the District 83 House of Representatives race, 15,129 to 11,376. And incumbent GOP state Representative Jim Coley defeated Democrat Allan Creasy by a vote of 12,298 to 10,073 in District 97.

More decisive victories were won by Republican incumbent Kevin Vaughan over Democear Sanjeev Memula in House District 95 and by the GOP’s Tom Leatherwood (a ballot replacement for the late Ron Lollar) over Democrat Dave Cambron in District 99.

Democratic state Rep. Dwayne Thompson, an upset winner in 2016 in House District 96, retained his seat by a vote of 14,710 over 10,493 for Republican challenger Scorr McCormick.

In the races for Governor and the U.S. Senate, local totals were:

For Governor: Democrat Karl Dean, 173,699; Republican Bill Lee, 105,369
For U.S. Senator: Democrat Phil Bredesen, 188,923; Republican Marsha Blackburn, 95,351.

Those local totals were almost diametrically opposite the statewide ones, which showed resounding victories for Lee over Dean, 1,291,458 (59.3 percent) to 846,186 (38.8 percent); and for Blackburn over Bredesen, 1,224,042 (54.7 percent) to 981,667 (43.9 percent).

Though arguments on the point can and will rage indecisively, the statewide results possibly reflected the natural dispositions of red-state Tennessee in cases where the Democratic challenge is muted by politesse. Dean and Lee reciprocated their gentlemanly approaches to each other, while Bredesen’s acknowledgement of partisan differences was minimal to the point of non-existence.

Bredesen surely qualifies for the 2018 “Oh, Yeah?” award for his mid-race statement to Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: “I’m in the fortunate position that people on the left are enraged enough that they will find almost anything I do, with the D after my name, acceptable.”
Count that as arrogance or as self-deception. It was demonstrably incorrect.

Bredesen’s public embrace of President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and his suggestion in a late ad that he and Trump (“a skilled negotiator”) could blissfully work together to lower drug prices were downers to his base, whereas Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s throwdown of the gauntlet to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race almost brought him a victory. Texas is clearly no more liberal a place than Tennessee.

The local difference in the gubernatorial and Senate races manifestly arose from the demographics of Shelby County, where Democratic turnout was at levels approximating those of presidential years. The stout showing of the Democratic challengers in legislative races was also buoyed by the turnout, a continuation of sorts of the blue wave that crested so strong in the august election.

The turnout factor was also prominent in the blowout win of 9th District Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen over GOP perennial Charlotte Bergmann, 143,690 to 34,710, though it was not too much help to Democratic challenger Erika Stotts Pearson in the wider West Tennessee expanse of the 8th Congressional District, where Republican incumbent David Kustoff triumphed, 66,889 to 32,578.

More to Come:

There were races in most of Shelby County’s suburban municipalities, too — the most dramatic being those in Germantown and Lakeland, where the issues of city spending and economic development loomed large.

In Germantown, Mayor Mike Palazzolo apparently won reelection by the razor-thin margin of 10,240 to 10,113 for challenger John Barzizza, who declined to concede, pending a final certification of results. The main issue in the mayoral contest was Palazzolo’s backing of Thornwood, a mixed-use development on Germantown Parkway.

Meanwhile, Palazzo’s coattails proved unavailing for two candidates he endorsed for city positions: Scott Sanders, a Barzizza endorsee, defeated Brian White in an alderman’s race, while Robyn Rey Rudisill lost a School Board race to angela Rickman Griff. Two other mayoral endorsees, Alderman Mary Anne Gibson and School Board member Betsy Landers triumphed over Jeff Brown and Brian Curry, respectively.

In Lakeland, where the primary issue was Mayor Wyatt Bunker’s development plans, including those for a new high school, Bunker was upset by challenger Mike Cunningham, 2,648 to 2,324.
Apparent winners for the city Commission were Richard Gonzales and Michelle Dial, while School Board winners were Kevin Floyd, Laura Harrison, and Deborah Thomas.