NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The Tennessee Supreme Court held public interviews for the six applicants in the process to select the next attorney general.
“The applicants were all remarkable, experienced, and gracious in their answers during a robust interview process,” Chief Justice Roger A. Page said. “The applicant pool is outstanding. This is an extremely important decision for our state, and the Court thanks all of the applicants for fielding our questions.”
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Robby Starbuck has achieved a maximum of 2,595 write-in votes, or roughly 4 percent of the total, putting him in fifth place for the August 4 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles handily won the primary with nearly 37 percent of the vote and 57,275 votes were cast in the primary for nine candidates who qualified for the ballot.
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A Tennessee National Guard soldier who was on his way out of the service due to a line of duty injury spoke exclusively with The Tennessee Star about his experience being forced to accept the COVID-19 vaccine and the negative reaction it likely caused to his health.
The soldier spoke on the condition of background because he does not want to risk losing his VA benefits.
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Thursday is primary and local general election day in Tennessee. People from all over the state are voting today. Many others voted during the July 15-July 30 early voting period.
The polls close at 7 p.m., and The Tennessee Star will be posting updates and results throughout the night on key contests.
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A Metro Nashville School Board candidate says that thanks to the Nashville Police Department, an alleged political sign thief was caught red-handed.
“A radical Democrat and follower of Antifa online was caught by Nashville police detectives yesterday evening with over a dozen stolen political signs for Todd Pembroke – Republican School Board candidate for District 2 covering Brentwood and Antioch,” the Todd Pembroke for Metro Nashville School Board campaign said in a press statement obtained by The Tennessee Star.
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In the latest episode of “White Board Wednesday,” U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-6) used humor to demonstrate why the Biden administration’s messaging on the United States’ economic recession is missing the mark.
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Sparks have been flying between Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and challenger Gary Humble in the GOP nomination contest for Senate District 27, which is set to take place Thursday.
Mail pieces have flooded mailboxes with attack messages against Humble, and social media attacks on Johnson have been posted by Humble and his nonprofit, Tennessee Stands.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and 21 of their Republican colleagues introduced introduced a broad legislative package to clarify and strengthen violent crime laws related to homicide, bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and other offenses according to a statement released on Friday.
“The Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act resolves discrepancies brought on by conflicting court decisions and clarifies congressional intent regarding crimes of violence and their respective penalties. Despite an ongoing crime wave, no Democrats have agreed to cosponsor the fixes,” said the statement.
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The Tennessee Supreme Court announced public hearings for the six applicants for attorney general in a statement issued on Monday.
“The Tennessee Supreme Court will begin a public hearing on August 8, 2022, that will include formal interviews of the six applicants for Attorney General and Reporter. Under the state constitution, the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter is appointed by the state Supreme Court and serves an eight-year term,” said the Court.
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On Monday, Laurie Cardoza Moore’s campaign shared a statement with The Tennessee Star that talks about why she is running for the Tennessee House of Representatives in the August 4 Republican primary and emphasizes her conservative credentials.
“As a concerned American and strong constitutionalist, I could simply not remain seated on the sidelines and watching the nation I love being destroyed, our rights and freedoms being threatened and our Judeo-Christian values being trampled underfoot by enemies, both internal and external. This is what propelled me to move forward in my run for the 63rd I am not controlled by special interest groups or big money donors,” she said.
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Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell announced on Monday that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) endorsed her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives.
James Smallwood, the President of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement provided to The Tennessee Star, “As speaker, Beth Harwell always prioritized public safety in Tennessee and was attentive to the needs of law enforcement professionals as we worked to promote safer and stronger communities across the State. Now, more than ever, we need that same attention in Washington D.C. The members of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police are proud to support Beth Harwell for Congress because we know she’s the right person for the job!”
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In a statement obtained by The Tennessee Star, candidate for Williamson County School Board District Six Debbie Pace shared why she is running for office.
“About 20 years ago, when I first started taking my children to school in Brentwood, it was wonderful. Teachers were happy, parents were involved, children were thriving, and the school board reflected the conservative voice of our county. Over the last few years the once-healthy relationship between the board, parents, and teachers has dramatically deteriorated,” she said.
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U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) voted to advance legislation banning “assault weapons.” He touted his vote during House Judiciary Committee debate last week.
Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, voted on July 20 to advance an “assault weapons ban” to the full House of Representatives.
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U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1) introduced the Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2022 on Thursday.
In a bipartisan move, Harshbarger teamed up with U.S. Representative Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1) to introduce H.R. 8508, which is described in a statement as “bipartisan legislation that improves Medicare reimbursements and enhances the current structure of the Medicare-funded graduate medical education (GME) program to bring more medical residents and doctors to rural areas.”
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Another Jeff Roe/Axiom Strategies client, TN-5 candidate Andy Ogles, announced the endorsement of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday.
In a statement endorsing Ogles that was provided to The Tennessee Star, Cruz said, “I am proud to endorse Andy Ogles for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. He is a steadfast conservative who will join me in the fight to cut taxes, secure our Southern border, and protect the 2nd Amendment. Andy has spent his life working for the people of Tennessee, and I have no doubt he will continue to display that passion for service when elected to Congress.”
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Attorney and Tennessee 5th Congressional candidate Kurt Winstead sits as a commissioner on the Tennessee Arts Commission, distributing millions of dollars in grants to various groups, including Marxist political groups and one that a Black Lives Matter activist chairs.
The Tennessee Arts Commission, according to a spreadsheet provided to The Tennessee Star, has distributed $35,866,258.95 in grants during the fiscal year 2022.
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Tennessee 5th Congressional candidate Beth Harwell called out “Washington D.C. groups trying to buy Tennessee’s 5th District” and said “the D.C. Swamp will control Andy Ogles.”
“Tennessee’s 5th District has become the newest playground for Washington D.C. insider groups looking to handpick the next representative. They can’t vote in this district, I bet most have never even been to Tennessee, but they’ve spent millions misleading voters and propping up Andy Ogles,” the former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives said in a press statement.
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For the first time in Tennessee history, the Tennessee Supreme Court has made the names of ALL candidates available to the public.
The Court lists the applications of William Edwin “Bill” Young of Brentwood, Jerome Cochran of Gallatin, Donald Q. Cochran, Jr. of Nashville, and David Michael Dunavant of Covington as of 4pm on Thursday, July 28.
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In a Wednesday interview with SuperTalk 99.7 WTN host Michael DelGiorno, TN-5 candidate Andy Ogles misled the public again on the subject of his late-filed July quarterly campaign finance report and declined to address the reason why he late-filed.
Ogles filed his first campaign finance report for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) April 1 through June 30 reporting period on Saturday, July 23, eight days after the July 15 deadline.
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Records show that the only salaried jobs that Ohio 13th Congressional District Democrat nominee Emilia Sykes has held have been funded by taxpayers.
According to her 2013 resume that she filed with the Summit County Fiscal Office when applying for a position, Sykes reported only having had two salaried jobs, which included work for the United States Bankruptcy Court in Cleveland, OH and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Three Tennessee members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter expressing their concern and questioning U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin about federal taxpayer dollars that go to institutions of higher learning with ties to the Chinese government.
Republican Study Committee Chair Jim Banks (R-IN-03) led the letter, also signed by Tennessee U.S. House delegation members Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), and Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04).
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Former U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development under President Trump, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson joined the Beacon Center of Tennessee’s Over-Caffeinated podcast, where he discussed a variety of issues including who he thinks could get the Republican and Democrat nominations for the 2024 presidential election.
The podcast was released on Monday.
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U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) denounced the Biden administration’s recent attempt to change the conversation on the economy and the potential of a recession with host Elizabeth MacDonald on Fox Business’ “The Evening Edit” on Monday.
“It’s more spin coming out of the White House, Liz. I think you look at the estimates – what’s going to happen on Thursday, we’re going to probably read a negative 1.5 percent GDP growth. That’s another straight consecutive quarter to quarter decline,” said Hagerty.
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U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-6) slammed the White House Council of Economic Advisors on Tuesday for “actively trying to change the definition of the word ‘recession.'”
Rose spoke from the U.S. House Floor, ahead of the expected release of economic data for the second quarter of 2022.
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In a statement made on Tuesday and obtained by The Tennessee Star, Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate and former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell took the Biden administration to task over it’s rhetoric on a possible economic recession and “their disastrous policies.”
“The Biden Administration wants to change the definition for ‘recession’ because they’re trying to cover up their disastrous policies that have put the American economy in this position. The American people are smart enough to see what they’re doing,” said Harwell.
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The Tennessee Star has obtained two separate complaints filed against State Senate District 27 candidate and executive director of the non-profit Tennessee Stands, Gary Humble.
Humble is running in the August 4 Republican primary against State Senator Majority Leader Jack Johnson.
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The deadline for an individual to submit an application to be considered in the Tennessee Supreme Court’s process of choosing the next attorney general is on Friday, July 29.
“Interested candidates must submit an application by 12:00 p.m. CDT on Friday, July 29, 2022. The Supreme Court will hold a public hearing to interview candidates on August 8 and 9, 2022 at the Nashville Supreme Court Building. The hearings will be livestreamed to the TNCourts YouTube page,” the Court said in statement earlier in July.
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Several out-of-state groups, including the Club for Growth, are spending well over a million dollars to boost Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles’ bid for the Republican nomination for TN-5 and to attack his opponents Beth Harwell and Kurt Winstead.
Club for Growth famously spent $1,000,000 against then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
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Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show several instances of financial reporting irregularities, including a fine, stemming from Andy Ogles’ 2002 campaign for the U.S. House in what was then the 4th District.
On June 30, 2003, Ogles was assessed an administrative fine in the amount of $2,700.00 for failure to file the 2002 year end report. He paid the fine in full.
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The Federal Election Commission (FEC) pre-primary reports were due on July 23 and three candidates, which include retired National Guard General Kurt Winstead, former speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, continue to show a massive financial lead over the rest of the nine candidate field in the August 4 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
Eight of the nine candidates filed the required report by July 23, which covered the reporting period dates of July 1 through July 15.
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Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate Andy Ogles filed his first campaign finance report for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) April 1 through June 30 reporting period on Saturday, eight days after the July 15 deadline. Ogles is one of nine candidates listed on the August 4 primary ballot who are seeking the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional district.
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Kurt Winstead’s campaign announced Friday that retired NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin endorsed Winstead in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
“General Winstead and I are both farm boys with strong conservative Republican values. I’ve spent time with him on several occasions, and I have no doubt that he will fight tooth and nail to defeat the Biden-Pelosi agenda in Washington. I am proud to offer my full support and endorsement to General Winstead as the next Congressman of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, said Marlin in a statement.
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State Senate aide and TN-5 candidate in the August 4 Republican primary Tres Wittum slammed his opponent Andy Ogles for the job he’s done as Maury County mayor and for “his lack of transparency” in failing to disclose his campaign finances.
“I’ve heard the quote believe people when they tell you who they are. Andy Ogles has not done his job as mayor, Andy Ogles makes outrageous claims that probably are not backed up, and lastly his lack of transparency isn’t surprising with his FEC report,” said Wittum.
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Faith and Freedom Coalition Executive Director Timothy Head told The Tennessee Star he feels that the pro-life movement is still a little surprised about the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“There’s certainly an excitement and energy around this. In some ways I almost feel like the collective pro-life movement is still in a little bit of shock. A lot of people have been active in the movement since they were in elementary school, middle school, or their entire adult lives,” he said.
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A judgment has been levied against OH-1 Democrat nominee Greg Landsman for failure to pay his taxes on March 2.
Landsman, the sole owner of real estate company Landsman & Associates, received the judgement for failure to pay taxes related to his business.
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Seven days after the filing deadline, TN-5 candidate Andy Ogles has still failed to file a campaign finance report as of close of Federal Election Commission (FEC) business on Thursday.
The FEC second quarter filing deadline for the reporting period covering April 1 through June 30 was July 15.
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The Tennessee Star learned that the far-left Tennessee Education Association (TEA) is distributing the same mailed literature piece recently targeting Democrat voters and encouraging them to vote for Jeff Eby in the House District (HD) 69 Republican race and other August 4 Republican district primaries.
In addition to promoting Eby’s bid, the TEA mailed the same exact piece in the HD 13 and Senate District (SD) 9 Republican primaries.
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Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate Kurt Winstead won’t say whether he voted for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the 2008 Tennessee Democrat presidential preference primary.
The Tennessee Star reached out to Winstead’s campaign, asking if they could provide a comment as to whether Kurt Winstead voted for Clinton or Obama in 2008.
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Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate Andy Ogles filed suit on Tuesday in the Circuit Court for Williamson County, Tennessee, at Franklin against the Tennessee Conservatives PAC, a super PAC connected to Kurt Winstead’s campaign for the TN-5 seat that recently started attack ads against him.
According to a statement made by the Ogles campaign, “[T]he suit calls on the PAC to take down an ad that falsely accuses Ogles of not paying property taxes, highlighting false accusations the PAC ran on television in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in an attempt to maliciously defame Ogles and harm his congressional campaign.”
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Six days have passed since the July 15 FEC finance report deadline for the reporting period covering April 1 through June 30, and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles is now the only Tennessee Fifth Congressional District candidate who has not filed the required paperwork.
Paramedic Timothy Lee filed his campaign finance documents on Wednesday, making Ogles the only candidate in the nine-candidate field who has failed to file.
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U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) commemorated the anniversary of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing in Argentina and took issue with the Biden administration’s negotiations on the Iran Nuclear Deal on Monday.
“We will never forget the 28th anniversary of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This heinous attack—carried out by Hezbollah with the support of Iran—took 85 victims and wounded hundreds more,” said Green in a tweet.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a new video on Tuesday highlighting how inflation impacts Tennesseans.
“On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised to cancel fossil fuels, and he’s following through on that promise. To make matters worse, he schemed with his fellow Democrats to force a $1.9 trillion spending package through Congress to fund scores of liberal pet projects. As a result, energy costs are through the roof, inflation is at a 41-year high, and gas is up 59.9%. Tennesseans have had enough. The key to lowering inflation is to stop this reckless spending,” said Senator Blackburn in a statement provided to The Tennessee Star.
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Lulu Elam, a candidate for Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) State Executive Committee in Davidson County, expressed her concern on Tuesday over her opponent’s reluctance to support the elimination of “vouching” as an option for candidates in Tennessee seeking to qualify as a bona fide Republican.
Current TRP bylaws require prospective candidates to vote in three of four successive statewide primary elections prior to becoming a Republican candidate.
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Several sources familiar with the on goings at the Tennessee Capitol told The Tennessee Star that a recruitment effort has started in an attempt to persuade former Deputy to the Governor and Chief Counsel Lang Wiseman to seek the position of attorney general. This development comes in the wake of news regarding Governor Bill Lee’s Chief Operating Officer Brandon Gibson, who is making it known that her interest in applying for the attorney general job has waned.
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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles skipped the Maury County Commission meeting on Monday evening where a vote was held to override his veto of the county budget.
Ogles’ veto was reportedly overridden by a vote of 17 in favor of the override, with two against, and three abstaining.
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Sources familiar with the political intrigue around the Tennessee Capitol tell The Tennessee Star that Governor Bill Lee’s preferred for choice for Attorney General, Tennessee COO Brandon Gibson, is letting it be known that she’s “now unlikely to even to apply for job.”
“It appears as though – based on how she is presenting this around, that the reception she received when news of her taking over the job was broken and became a topic of public discussion – it has taken the shine off of Gibson wanting to be Tennessee Attorney General and to deal with the legislature and she is no longer sure she wants the job,” said one source on the condition of background.
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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles’ campaign for the Republican nomination in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat has yet to file the Federal Election Commission (FEC) second quarter campaign finance report, as of press time.
The deadline to file the report was on July 15. The FEC second-quarter reporting period covers April 1 through June 30.
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FRANKLIN, Tennessee – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) told The Tennessee Star on Saturday at the Williamson County Republican Party Reagan Dinner that “the GOP, the ‘Great Opportunity Party’ has a very bright future.”
The Star was able to sit down with Senator Scott and conduct a one-on-one interview, arranged through Senator Scott’s staff and Williamson GOP Chair Cheryl Brown.
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The July 15 deadline for federal candidates to file their Federal Election Commission (FEC) second-quarter campaign finance reports has passed, and six of the nine candidates for the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat have reports that are available for public viewing.
The FEC second-quarter reporting period covers April 1 through June 30.
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A super PAC connected to Kurt Winstead’s campaign for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat launched an attack ad Friday against one of his opponents, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles.
A TV ad that is paid for and authorized by the Tennessee Conservatives PAC hit the Nashville airwaves on Friday.
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