Williamson Families PAC called on now-convicted felon and judicial candidate Connie Reguli to withdraw from the Williamson County May 3 Republican primary.
The Williamson Families PAC, which is a conservative group based in Franklin, Tennessee, previously endorsed Reguli but the political action committee retracted the endorsement.
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In a statement, state Senate aide and TN-5 GOP primary candidate Tres Wittum blasted U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s response to the removal of carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck from the ballot.
The statement said, “On Thursday morning Tres Wittum took to Twitter to address the ongoing controversy with the Tennessee GOP Executive Committee’s decision over GOP ‘bonafide’ credentials to run as a Republican candidate on the 2022 ballot. On Wednesday, South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham had tweeted what Wittum calls ‘overreaching and offensive speech’ towards the Volunteer state.
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Williamson County Republican judicial candidate Connie Reguli is running in the May 3 GOP primary against incumbent Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Guffee, who she named in a lawsuit over a decade ago. Reguli named Guffee and several others, including the state of Tennessee, as defendants in the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in part because of Guffee’s role as the judge in a case involving her daughter and a teenage boy she was dating. According to court documents, Guffee repeatedly ruled against Reguli’s position in the case. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed the case against Guffee and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed its decision. Reguli has been disciplined by boards of professional responsibility and the Tennessee courts system several times. Since 2009, Reguli has faced discipline that includes being suspended from the practice of law for nearly a year, a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court, and professional probation as ordered by the state courts system for a period of 11 months and 29 days. According to a document released by the Board of Professional Responsibility for the Supreme Court of Tennessee detailing some of the history of…
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U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty criticized the Biden administration’s competence, handling of Afghanistan, the energy crisis and how it affects the situation in Ukraine, and discussed a recent trip he took to Japan during an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star that occurred after a Wednesday afternoon joint press event held on border security with Governor Bill Lee outside his Nashville district office.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Governor Bill Lee could not explain why he believes Morgan Ortagus should be on the Tennessee 5th Congressional District Republican primary ballot when his Republican primary opponents’ were reportedly about to be disqualified from the ballot during a joint press conference held with U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN)after a law enforcement roundtable on border security Wednesday afternoon.
Hagerty and Lee briefly opened with statements on border security and the roundtable discussion that was held before they took questions. Lee was asked several questions about pending legislation before the Tennessee General Assembly before he was asked about Ortagus’ disqualification from the Republican primary.
Scott Golden, the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, submitted a letter on Wednesday morning in accordance with party bylaws and the state code to Mark Goins, the coordinator of elections for the state of Tennessee, officially notifying him that disqualified Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidates Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee are removed “completely from the Republican August primary ballot.”
The letter included a notification of the full list of candidates in a variety of races that the TNGOP voted to restore to the ballot, as well as the full list of candidates, in accordance with state law, that the party voted to remove completely.
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The Finance Committee of the Tennessee State Senate voted on Wednesday to remove public funding for the proposed $2 billion domed stadium for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans from the 2022-2023 budget for the state of Tennessee.
State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) proposed two amendments to the budget that (1) removed authorization for the state of Tennessee to issue a $500 million bond to be used for the construction of the proposed stadium and (2) removed $55 million in taxpayer funding to service the interest payments annually of that bond debt.
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Nashville Metro Nashville Council this week approved over $62 million in appropriations and a resolution recognizing Earth Day, and set next Wednesday as the date for the State of the Metropolitan Government Address.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee- U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty spoke about border security with The Tennessee Star in an exclusive one-on-one interview after a Wednesday afternoon joint press event held with Governor Bill Lee outside his Nashville district office.
Hagerty addressed the Biden administration’s gutting of Title 42 and his desire to see it expanded, not ended. He also addressed the migrant protection protocols which were put in place under the Trump administration. Hagerty believes they should be codified, whereas the Biden administration has destroyed them.
National Right to Life, a leading national Pro-Life organization, has endorsed Herschel Walker in the Georgia U.S. Senate race.
This is an uncommon step for the organization, as they don’t typical endorse candidates before the nomination has occurred.
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Democrat candidate for the 7th Congressional District of Tennessee Odessa Kelly tweeted early Tuesday morning: “When elected to Congress, legalizing marijuana will be one of my top priorities fa sho!”
Kelly’s tweet was a reply to a tweet by Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.
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Former State Department spokesman and now-former candidate for the GOP nomination for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat Morgan Ortagus issued a statement on the decision by the select committees of the Tennessee Republican Party to disqualify her candidacy.
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The Georgia Star News has obtained a list of candidates who are scheduled to participate in the Loudermilk-Young Debate Series which features candidates in various statewide and U.S. House races.
There will be separate Republican and Democrat debates for each primary.
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Metro Nashville Council released the agenda for their Tuesday meeting and highlights include over $62 million in appropriations, an ordinance concerning LPR information, bonds issuance, a resolution recognizing Earth Day, and a resolution setting the date and time for the 2022 State of the Metropolitan Government Address.
Other issues on the agenda include zoning and contracts.
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TNGOP Scott Golden has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that as of Tuesday evening, Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee, and are no longer candidates for the TN-5 GOP nomination due to a vote by a select committee of the Tennessee Republican party.
The select committee voted not to restore Robby Starbuck, Morgan Ortagus, and Baxter Lee to the ballot after they were previously removed because of verified challenges to their bona fide status.
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There are several Georgia primary candidate debates scheduled to occur in the upcoming weeks.
Many view the contest for the GOP nomination in the governor’s race as the main event. Incumbent Governor Brian Kemp and former U.S. Senator and Trump-endorsed candidate David Perdue are scheduled to face off on Atlanta, Georgia’s WSB-TV on April 24, Savannah, Georgia’s WTOC on April 28, and at the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting on May 1.
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Last week, a judge held a Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance agency, the Registry of Election Finance, in contempt of a previous permanent injunction and ordered the agency to return $64,000 in fees collected.
In 2018, the Registry of Election Finance, was ordered to cease the enforcement of Tenn. Code Ann. §2-10-121, which establishes a registration fee for multi-party political campaign committees because it was ruled to be unconstitutional. A permanent injunction against enforcement was issued.
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A federal judge has ruled that Stacey Abrams cannot yet collect unlimited donations in the Georgia governor’s race.
U.S District Court Judge Mark Cohen from the Northern District of Georgia ruled that Abrams cannot collect unlimited donations as allowed under Georgia law because she is not yet the official Democrat nominee for governor.
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FEC records show that Baxter Lee, a candidate for the GOP nomination in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District race has raised $317,380 for the 2022 first quarter reporting period.
Lee also matched his contributions with a personal loan to the campaign, making the total receipts for the first quarter $634,760.
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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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FEC reporting shows that Trump-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, former NFL star athlete Herschel Walker has raised over $5 million for the 2022 Federal Election Commission first quarter reporting period.
The FEC first quarter reporting period covers the January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022 time period.
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The 2022 FEC first quarter report filed by announced TN-5 Congressional candidate Morgan Ortagus on April 15 shows that 78 percent of her campaign donations come from out-of-state sources.
Of the $591,418 in receipts reported by the Ortagus campaign in the FEC first quarter reporting period covers the time period of January 1 through March 31, only $126,477, or 22 percent, came from itemized individual contributions made by Tennessee residents. The average contribution made by the 84 Tennessee residents who donated to the Ortagus campaign was $1,505.
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Two different polls were released that show Herschel Walker and State Senator Burt Jones with massive leads in the Republican primaries for U.S. Senate and Lt. Governor, respectively.
Current Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger trails Trump-endorsed U.S. Representative Jody Hice in both polls and has a massive deficit in the second survey.
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A pair of bills that essentially prohibit biological males from competing in women’s Local Education Association and Collegiate sports continue to advance through the Tennessee General Assembly legislative process.
SB1861, sponsored by State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), was overwhelmingly approved by both the chambers in the Tennessee General Assembly. SB2153, also sponsored by Hensley, was overwhelmingly passed in the state Senate, 27-4, and is scheduled to be considered by the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee on Tuesday, April 19.
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Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle, donated $1 million on March 21 to the recently-formed SuperPAC supporting TN-5 carpetbagger candidate Morgan Ortagus, according to Federal Election Commission records obtained by The Tennessee Star on Friday.
That SuperPAC, the Tennessee Conservatives PAC, has already begun running a $100,000 radio ad buy in the district in support of Ortagus.
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Georgia Senate candidate and frontrunner for the GOP nomination Herschel Walker reacted to an article published by left wing publication The Nation that trashes Walker’s status as a black man and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.
In a tweet, Walker said, “As usual, the left and the media are making everything about race. I’m going to win this seat because Georgians know I’m the most qualified for the job.”
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The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office provided partial clarification on the applicability of the newly enacted three-year residency law to carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, but left out a reference to a key part of state code.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that mere hours after the enactment of the new three-year residency law for federal candidates in primaries, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office offered conflicting comments about whether he intends to enforce the new law and remove “carpetbagger” candidates from the August 4 Republican primary ballot.
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The Tennessee General Assembly overwhelmingly approved legislation banning local education associations or public charter schools from doing business with entities that perform abortions.
The state Senate passed the bill, 27-5, on April 11. The state House approved the legislation on March 7, 70-21. In total, 97 members of the Tennessee General Assembly voted in favor and 26 voted against.
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The Georgia Star News asked State Senator Burt Jones (R-SD25), current candidate for Lt. Governor, why some Georgia Republicans seem resistant to passing more election integrity legislation.
“Why resistance to doing anything further on election integrity? That’s the million-dollar question right there.” he said. “I’m the one that dropped in a couple bills, getting rid of drop boxes and Dominion machines. I could never get a hearing on that. That was Senate leadership that killed it. Butch and Duncan blocked it.”
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Within hours of the enactment of a new law on Wednesday that requires candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee to be residents of the state for three years prior to their placement on a primary ballot, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office offered conflicting comments about whether he intends to enforce the new law and remove “carpetbagger” candidates from the August 4 Republican primary ballot.
Reaction from Tennessee state legislators to the comments from the Secretary of State’s office were swift and pointed.
Sources tell The Tennessee Star that if the Tennessee Secretary of State refuses to enforce the newly enacted law and remove any candidate from the ballot for the U.S. House who fails to meet the three-year residency requirement he will be sued to require him to enforce the law.
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The three-year residency requirement legislation for Tennessee candidates for federal office in primaries is now law – effective immediately – without Governor Lee’s signature.
The Tennessee General Assembly sent the legislation, which it overwhelmingly approved, over to Governor Lee’s office on April 1. Governor Lee had the option to sign the legislation into law, veto it, or allow ten days to pass where it would be enacted into law without his signature. Lee chose the third option.
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Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, a candidate for the TN-5 GOP nomination, announced on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that if elected, she will limit herself to three terms of service totaling six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Harwell has additionally signed the U.S. Term Limit’s pledge which states “that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.”
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State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) is effectively the Democrat nominee in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
Two candidates submitted qualifying petitions signatures to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, Campbell and Justicia Rizzo. The Secretary of State’s office lists on Campbell’s petitions signatures as approved.
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Former Tennessee House Majority Leader and current State Representative John Mark Windle (I-HD41) is now a former Democrat.
Known for being a defender of Second Amendment rights, Windle switched his partisan status to Independent effective immediately and is running for reelection as an Independent as well.
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The Tennessee State Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill, 25-6, that requires high school students to be taught the virtues of capitalism and the constitutional republic form of government in comparison to other economic systems and governmental systems.
The Tennessee State House of Representatives approved the House version of the bill on March 28, 68-21. Prior to the final vote, the Senate voted to substitute and conform to the House-approved version.
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Retired Tennessee National Guard General Kurt Winstead has announced that he has raised more than $520,000 in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
Winstead’s campaign announced that 99% of those funds were from Tennessee, and 73% were from the counties within the new boundaries of TN-5, Davidson, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, Williamson and Wilson Counties.
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Longtime Tennessee state Senate aide Tres Wittum officially announced his entry into the GOP primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.
In a video released by the campaign, Wittum said, “I’m Tres Wittum. I’m running for the 5th Congressional District. I’m in.”
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President Trump amplified accusations that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp used Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to block an election integrity bill in a Monday morning email to supporters and media.
Trump shared a statement issued by VoterGA, a Georgia-based election integrity group. Its website says it is “a coalition of citizens working to restore election integrity in Georgia. We advocate for independently verifiable, auditable, recount-capable and transparent elections.”
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Candidate for TN-5, Morgan Ortagus’ campaign refuses to answer questions about the nature and source of her campaign fundraising.
In a statement, Morgan Ortagus announced on Monday, April 11 that her campaign raised nearly $600,000 for the January 1 – March 31, 2022 FEC first quarter reporting. Ortagus’ campaign says that records will show the campaign ending the FEC first quarter with over $550,000 cash on hand.
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The full Tennessee State Senate will vote on Tuesday, April 12, considering a bill that requires high school students to be taught the virtues of capitalism and the constitutional republic form of government in comparison to other economic systems and governmental systems.
The Tennessee State House of Representatives previously approved the House version of the bill on March 28, 68-21.
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As of April 7, the date of the qualifying petitions filing deadline, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office has approved the submissions of fourteen candidates in the race for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District seat.
Eleven Republicans, one Democrat, and two Independents are listed as by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office as having their petitions signatures approved.
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Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore ‘Butch’ Miller told John Fredericks on The John Fredericks Show that Governor Kemp told him that he did not oppose SB 89, the election integrity bill killed by Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan.
Miller is also a candidate for Lt. Governor in the Republican primary which is slated to occur on May 24. His main opponent is fellow Georgia Senator Burt Jones.
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Sources close to Andy Ogles tell The Tennessee Star that he will announce later this week that he will focus on his bid for the TN-5 GOP nomination and will withdraw as a candidate for re-election as mayor of Maury County.
First elected mayor in 2018, Ogles is currently the GOP nominee for Maury County mayor in the Aug 4 county general election, which is scheduled to be held on the same day and in the same Maury County polling locations as the TN-5 GOP primary election.
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On Saturday, April 9, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden briefed the TNGOP State Executive Committee on the challenge process, explaining that the challenges would be adjudicated before noon on April 21.
Prior to the start of the meeting, there was some confusion, as sources expected the TNGOP to take action on the challenges at Saturday’s meeting.
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A new dark money super PAC spent $100,000 in radio ads on Wednesday in support of carpetbagger Morgan Ortagus in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district seat, according to Federal Election Commission records released on Friday.
The PAC’s name is Tennessee Conservatives PAC and the expenditure was made on April 6. Saturation-level radio ads – at least 20 spots per day – began running on Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC in Nashville and 99.7 WTN in Nashville beginning on Wednesday.
The PAC, which was organized on February 22, 2022 according to FEC records, has yet to release its funding sources. The group’s report for the period ending March 31 will not be made filed with the FEC until April 15. It is common practice for dark money PACs to hide their sources of funding until the latest possible date.
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During an appearance on Outside the Beltway with John Fredericks, former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler this week refused to address the issue of whether or not Georgia Governor Brian Kemp lied about an election integrity meeting that former U.S. Senator David Perdue said happened.
Additionally, Loeffler did not address whether she was present or if the meeting occurred at all.
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A select committee made up of members of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee are making preparations to hold a hearing on several challenges that were made to GOP bona fide statuses of candidates in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District (TN-5).
The Tennessee Star previously reported that challenges had been received and verified by the TNGOP to the Republican bona fide statutes of carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, as well as Baxter Lee. David Vitalli had been challenged as well, but he decided to exit the race and did not turn in his qualifying petitions.
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Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R), allegedly on the behalf of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, blocked state Senate legislation that addressed ballot chain of custody and would have placed a ban on private donations directly to counties.
Senator Brandon Beach (R-21) told The Georgia Star News, “I don’t understand why the governor didn’t want us to address that outside money, whether it was Zuckerberg or Soros or whoever.”
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In a poll recently released by Emerson College Polling/The Hill, Stacey Abrams trails both Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) and his GOP primary challenger, former U.S. Senator David Perdue.
Kemp leads Abrams by seven percentage points and Perdue has a five-point lead.
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The Georgia Republican primary race for Secretary of State is deadlocked in a virtual tie.
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger does lead his primary challenger U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10), however the lead is well within the poll’s 4.3% margin of error.
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