Tennessee State Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains), the Senate sponsor of the new legislation that establishes a residency requirement for candidates to qualify to run for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, said The Wall Street Journal is a “typical liberal Yankee rag” for its criticisms of the new measure that passed the state’s General Assembly with broad bipartisan support.
The New York-based Journal published an article Wednesday titled, “Tennessee’s Political Protection Racket: State Legislators Pass a Law to Block a Trumpian Outsider from the Ballot,” which blasts the three-year residency requirement legislation for candidates in federal primaries.
Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District candidate Morgan Ortagus’ campaign highlighted the piece, emailing it to its distribution list. Sources say that the Ortagus campaign pitched the article to The Journal.
The Tennessee Star sent The Journal piece to Niceley, and his reaction to it was short and characteristically blunt.
“Typical liberal Yankee rag,” he said. “What more do you expect out of them?”
Niceley gave his thoughts on the possibility of a campaign filing suit against the legislation if it becomes law.
“If someone sues, it’ll generate a lot of negative press, and the last thing anybody wants when running for public office is negative press,” the state senator said.
Until its dissemination of The Journal piece, the Ortagus campaign avoided tying itself to references to legal challenges to the three-year residency requirement bill, although a new super PAC with possible ties to her reportedly threatened just such a legal challenge. Another TN-5 candidate, Robby Starbuck, has threatened to sue if his status were challenged and has said he has retained attorneys. Also, David Vitalli is said to be considering all options.
Niceley also addressed the Ortagus candidacy.
“What’s she ever done? We’ve got candidates that have actually done things,” he said. “We’ve got a general in the race. We’ve got a former speaker of the Tennessee State House. What’s she ever done except read a script somebody gave her?”
There are several errors and omissions in The Journal article, which the paper indicates was written by its Editorial Board.
First, The Journal fails to mention that if the three-year residency legislation is enacted into law, Ortagus would still be allowed to run in the general election as an Independent, but not in the primary.
The article also fails to mention that the legislation is inspired by long standing qualifications for other public offices in Tennessee. The new measure reads:
In order to qualify as a candidate in a primary election for United States senate or for member of the United States house of representatives, a person shall meet the residency requirements for state senators and representatives contained in the Tennessee constitution.
The residency legislation requires that candidates for federal offices in Tennessee primaries must meet the same residency requirement that members of the General Assembly already do, as described in the Tennessee constitution, Article II, Sec. 9 and 10. There is also a seven-year residency requirement in order to run for governor of Tennessee, described in the state constitution in Article III, Sec. 3.
Furthermore, the article fails to acknowledge that Ortagus is not the only carpetbagger in the TN-5 race. California native Starbuck and New York native Vitalli are also carpetbaggers.
And the article fails to note that the Republican bona fide status and place on the ballot of Ortagus, Starbuck, and Vitalli have been challenged to the Tennessee Republican Party (TNGOP) in accordance with its bylaws – meaning regardless of the recently-passed residency bill, the ballot status of the three carpetbaggers are in jeopardy because of existing TNGOP bylaws.
Finally, The Journal failed to note the overwhelming, bipartisan support for the three-year residency requirement legislation. The State House passed the legislation 70-18 on March 28. The State Senate passed it 31-1 on February 28. Between the two chambers, 101 Tennessee Republican and Democrat legislators voted in favor of the legislation, compared to the 19 that voted against it.
The Journal’s article correctly noted:
– The candidate filing deadline is coming up;
– Ortagus used to work as a State Department spokesman under former President Donald Trump;
– U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) is retiring;
– A large number of candidates are running for TN-5;
– That Ortagus is a newcomer to Tennessee;
– The requirement that the Tennessee General Assembly has passed is a three-year requirement; and
– The veto power of the Tennessee governor can be overridden by a simple majority of the General Assembly
The House and Senate speakers have signed the legislation and it likely will soon be transmitted to Governor Bill Lee for his approval or veto.
Earlier on Thursday, all-star panelist Clint Brewer gave his reaction to The Journal article on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.
“And what it sounds like to me is some folks from the East Coast reacting viscerally to the fact that one of their own isn’t allowed to just come to Tennessee and take a congressional seat,” he said.
Brewer added, “They’re basically telling all the rubes in Tennessee, do it our way, not your way. I’m not sure this is how you win voters.”
“I’m not sure for the fine folks of the 5th Congressional District, as they go about their day, how much impact the lofty opinion of The Wall Street Journal is going to have in places like Tennessee,” he said.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Frank Niceley” by Tennessee General Assembly. Background Photo “Wall Street Journal” by Jennifer Feuchter. CC BY 2.0.
[…] TN Residency Bill: ‘Wall Street Journal’ Is ‘Typical Liberal Yankee Rag’ […]
Blatantly unconstitutional. Any state law that adds qualifications to those specified in art. I, § 2 of the US Constitution has been struck down without exception. Stupid move by Tennessee. The state has no chance of prevailing in court, none whatsoever.
So Frank Nicely thinks that the Wall Street Journal is a liberal/leftist rag? Gimme a break, Nicely! Not even the New York Times is all that leftist, except on cultural issues. But on military and foreign policy issues, both Wall Street Journal and New York Times sell out to the hawkish rightists who control the so-called National Security State (actually a militarist security state).
Voting record and residency are not the only determining factors outlined in the TNGOP By-laws. The first “bona-fide” requirement is “Any individual who is actively involved in the Tennessee Republican
Party, his County Republican Party, or any recognized auxiliary organization of either, and” Further the by-laws state ““Actively involved in” in the foregoing section shall be defined as
a quantifiable contribution including, but not limited to, time or
money to Tennessee Republican Party, his County Republican
Party, or any recognized auxiliary organization of either during the
time period since the most recent County Republican Party
reorganization.” I am sure the article in the Yankee Rag does not address this nor do the people who are seeking to represent the public trust.
Well put Senator Niceley.
Fox news these days is also a ‘Typical Liberal Yankee Rag’