Tag: TN GOP

Weak Fundraising Report for TN-5 Carpetbagger Candidate Robby Starbuck: Raised Only $104k, with 64 Percent from Out-of-State

Aaron Gulbransen

The first quarter of 2022 finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by TN-5 candidate Robby Starbuck shows that he raised just over $104,000 in the first three months of the year, with 64.73% percent of that– $67,666– coming from out-of-state, and just 35.26 percent of it–$36,857–coming from Tennessee.

Starbuck raised $104,523.78 for the Federal Election Commission reporting period covering January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022 but had a very high burn rate, spending $71,003.56 of it.

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Robby Starbuck Refuses to Answer Questions About His Tennessee Residency

Aaron Gulbransen

Announced TN-5 Congressional candidate Robby Starbuck is refusing to provide documentary evidence to substantiate his claim that he meets a proposed three-year residency requirement to be eligible for the August 4, 2022 GOP primary ballot.

“I’ve already provided proof of my residency to The Tennessean and to world-renowned journalist John Soloman [sic].  I’m not taking away from my kid’s spring break after a year of our family campaigning to satisfy the long list of requests made by the Star,” Starbuck emailed in The Tennessee Star on March 14, 2022.

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Robby Starbuck Admits He Never Voted in Tennessee 2020 GOP Primaries: ‘I Wasn’t a Full-Time Resident . . . I Was Still Closing Down My Business in California’

Aaron Gulbransen

Candidate for U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Robby Starbuck admits that he’s never voted in Tennessee Republican primaries.

Starbuck also acknowledges that he’ll need to be vouched for as a bona fide Republican as part of the Tennessee GOP’s candidate qualification process.

The political newcomer appeared on Nashville’s Morning News with Dan Mandis on 99.7WTN Thursday morning to discuss, among other things, the controversy surrounding his voter history. Starbuck had previously claimed more than once to have voted in two 2020 GOP primaries in Tennessee, but he recently started backing off that claim in a Facebook comment.

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Robby Starbuck Claims He Never Said That He Voted in Tennessee GOP Primaries, Says He Misunderstood Question

Aaron Gulbransen

Candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Robby Starbuck appears to be backing off his claims about his voter history, writing on social media that he never said he voted in 2020 and that he misunderstood the question.

More than once, Robby Starbuck claimed to have voted in the August 2020 primary as well as the March presidential primary in 2020. Voting in Republican primaries is a component of the process for qualifying for the 2022 August primary ballot.

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Despite Robby Starbuck’s Claims, Wilson County Republican Chair Says Starbuck Didn’t Send Him Anything About His Voting Record

Aaron Gulbransen

Doubt continues to be cast on Robby Starbuck’s claims about his Republican primary voting record.

On multiple occasions, Starbuck claimed that he voted in the August of 2020 and March of 2020 Tennessee Republican primaries. Records provided by Williamson County election officials, where he lives and is registered to vote, contradict those claims.

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Voting History Claims Made by Starbuck Not Confirmed by Williamson County GOP Chair

Aaron Gulbransen

Robby Starbuck, a candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District’s claims about his voting history were not confirmed by the Williamson County Republican Chair.

Robby Starbuck previously claimed that he voted in August of 2020 and March of 2020 Tennessee Republican primaries when records provided by Williamson County election officials showed that he did not vote in either. In statements provided to The Tennessee Star, Starbuck referenced conversations with Williamson County GOP Chair, Cheryl Brown, to support his claims.

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TN-5 Congressional Candidate Robby Starbuck Posts Profanity-Laced Video After The Tennessee Star Questioned Him About His Primary Voting Record

Aaron Gulbransen

Less than 24 hours after The Tennessee Star asked TN-5 Congressional candidate Robby Starbuck to address questions about his voting record raised by documents obtained from Williamson County election officials, Starbuck released a video taken from a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street where the criminal defends himself before his employees.

In his version, Starbuck superimposed his own face on the face of Jordan Belfort, played Leonardo DiCaprio, using the audio from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. In 1999, Belfort pled guilt to fraud and other crimes in connection to stock market manipulation and a penny stock scam. He spent 22 months in prison as part of a plea agreement where he testified against partners and subordinates. The Wolf of Wall Street also depicted numerous incidents of drug use, sex, and an instance where a male high on drugs sexually gratified himself.

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Records Show Robby Starbuck Has Never Voted in a Tennessee GOP Primary, Making TN-5 Candidate Vulnerable to Ballot Challenge

Aaron Gulbransen

Robby Starbuck, who formally declared his run for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in June 2021, just two years after moving to Tennessee from California, told The Tennessee Star on Saturday “I don’t feel it’s necessary” to explain why he claimed in a January 21 radio interview with The Tennessee Star Report that he voted in two Tennessee GOP primaries in 2020, when voting records provided to The Tennessee Star by Williamson County officials show that he did not vote in either 2020 Tennessee GOP primary.

Tennessee Republican Party bylaws require active Republicans to have either (1) voted in three of the last four GOP primaries or (2) to have their “bona fide” status vouched for by Republicans in the district they seek to represent and then approved in a majority vote by a specially assembled committee of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee in order qualify to be on the August 2022 GOP primary ballot.

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Candidates Must Have ‘Bona Fide Republican’ Status to Qualify for Tennessee GOP Ballot

Aaron Gulbransen
Tennessee State Capitol at night in winter

Election season is heating up in Tennessee. The midterm congressional elections occur this year and the release of the proposed new maps has led to even more discussion about potential candidates and district races in Tennessee.

In addition to satisfying the federal and state requirements to run for public office, candidates seeking the Republican nomination in Tennessee must satisfy the Tennessee GOP’s governing criteria in order to qualify for the nomination contest.

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Tennessee GOP Votes To Close Primaries

Laura Baigert

FRANKLIN, Tennessee – The State Executive Committee (SEC) of the Tennessee Republican Party voted overwhelmingly at its organizational meeting to require party registration in order to vote in a party’s primary election, more commonly known as closing the primaries. The SEC has a potential of 66 seats consisting of one committeeman and one committeewoman for each of Tennessee’s 33 Senate districts. In a roll call vote, there were 45 votes in favor of closing the primaries, 14 for the primaries to remain open and one abstention. Two SEC members were absent with no proxy present, and four seats are currently vacant. The resolution will be provided to the Tennessee General Assembly with the expectation of getting a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and House to address voter registration during the upcoming legislative session which will begin in January, thereby putting an end to the perceived finger-pointing as to whether it is the SEC or legislature that must close the primaries. A press release issued shortly after the vote and meeting adjournment on Saturday titled “TNGOP Passes Election Resolutions,” stated that the Tennessee Republican Party’s State Executive Committee voted to approve a resolution that asks the 111th General Assembly “to…

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Tennessee Republican Party Calls on Democrats to Invalidate Nomination of Candidate Who Voted in GOP Primary

Tennessee Star Staff

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Republican Party called on the State Primary Board for the Democratic Party “to invalidate the nomination of Anne McGraw for Williamson County Commission.” “During early voting, Anne McGraw, a Democratic candidate herself on the May 1 primary ballot, opted to vote in the Republican primary. This decision demonstrates a malicious intent to tamper with the democratic process,” the Tennessee Republican Party said in a statement, adding: According to TCA 2-7-115: (b) A registered voter is entitled to vote in a primary election for offices for which the voter is qualified to vote at the polling place where the voter is registered if: (1) The voter is a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote (2) At the time the voter seeks to vote, the voter declares allegiance to the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote and states that the voter intends to affiliate with that party. Being herself a candidate and therefore bona fide member of the Tennessee Democratic Party who is running for their nomination, Anne McGraw knowingly violated the spirit of Tennessee election law. “The sanctity of our elections…

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