Category: Elections

AOC, Ilhan Omar Endorse State Rep. Justin Pearson for Redrawn TN-9, Further Consolidating Progressive Support

Tom Pappert

U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) have joined the growing list of nationally recognized progressive Democrats throwing their endorsements behind State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), who seeks his party’s nomination to represent Tennessee in the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Pearson was announced via the New York Democrat’s congressional campaign account on the social media platform X.

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Republican TN-9 Candidate Jeremy Thompson Calls for Streamlined ‘Multi-Year Visas’ for Lawful Foreign Workers

Tom Pappert
Jeremy Thompson

Jeremy Thompson, the veteran and Fayetteville business owner who is seeking the Republican Party nomination to represent Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, last Thursday called for Congress to implement an online system for some temporary foreign workers to obtain “multi-year visas” that would streamline the application process using the internet.

Thompson called for the system to be implemented after he was asked a question during a candidate forum held on Thursday, which was organized by the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, and included an featured statement and responses to two questions from each of the six candidates who attended.

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Six Candidates for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District Offer Distinct Visions for Rural Areas Included in 2026 Redistricting in Bipartisan Forum

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

Six of the 10 candidates who have qualified for the primary election ballot to represent Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District on Thursday appeared for a bipartisan candidate forum held by the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, revealing dramatically different visions for how the candidates would represent rural constituents if elected.

The first candidate to offer their vision to rural voters in the newly redrawn district was State Senator London Lamar (D-Nashville), who suggested she could use her legislative experience in the Tennessee General Assembly to bridge the gap between the district’s rural, suburban, and urban areas.

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Justin Pearson Tells Marc Elias Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District ‘Competitive’ for Democrats After Redistricting by ‘Ku Klux Cameron Sexton’

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) on Tuesday told Marc Elias, the prominent Democratic election attorney and founder of Democracy Docket, that Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District remains highly competitive for Democrats, even after state lawmakers with “evil intention” allegedly divided the district along racial lines.

Pearson made the comments during his Tuesday appearance on “Defending Democracy with Marc Elias,” a podcast produced by the lawyer’s Democracy Docket platform, after first insisting that Tennessee’s recent redistricting, completed in response to the Louisiana v. Callais decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, proved Tennessee is no longer a “constitutional democratic republic.”

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Bernie Sanders Endorses Justin Pearson as Progressives Rally Behind Democrat in Redrawn GOP-Leaning Tennessee District

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Tuesday endorsed State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) in his campaign to become the Democratic Party nominee in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which is currently represented by U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), who announced his retirement from Congress shortly after the Tennessee General Assembly redrew the district earlier this year. 

Sanders’ endorsement was first reported by The Intercept, which reported the former Democratic presidential candidate shared his support for Pearson in a statement emailed to the publication.

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Maine Democrats Locked into Platner Nomination Despite Controversies, Robinson Says

Kaitlin Housler
Graham Platner

Steve Robinson, the editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, said Democratic insiders are increasingly concerned about U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner’s growing list of controversies and would like him to withdraw from the race, but warned that under Maine law, party leaders have no mechanism to remove him from the ballot if he wins the nomination.

Speaking during Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show as Maine Democrats headed into their primary election, Robinson argued that Platner’s nomination is effectively secured despite a series of controversies involving his personal history, online activity, and allegations from former partners.

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Eva Romero Outlines Priorities in Bid for Tennessee House District 60

Kaitlin Housler
Eva Romero

Eva Romero, a Republican running for the Tennessee House of Representatives, outlined her background, policy priorities, and reasons for seeking office during an exclusive interview Thursday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.

Romero, who is running for Tennessee House District 60, said during Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that the district she is running for includes Old Hickory, Hermitage, and Donelson, describing it as “lake to lake.” The district is currently represented by Democratic State Representative Shaundelle Brooks (D-Hermitage).

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Ex-Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Absent on List of Candidates Who Submitted Signatures to Run in Redrawn Districts

Tom Pappert
Megan Barry

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was not included on the Tennessee Secretary of State’s list of candidates who submitted signatures to qualify for the ballot in one of Tennessee’s congressional districts, following the successful redrawing by Governor Bill Lee and the General Assembly.

Barry was included on the state agency’s Tuesday list of candidates, and the Secretary of State confirmed she had obtained a petition to begin gathering the 25 valid signatures required to obtain ballot access in the newly redrawn districts.

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London Lamar Submits Signatures to Qualify for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District in Blow to Justin Pearson as Steve Cohen Leaves Race

Tom Pappert
London Lamar

The Tennessee Secretary of State published a final list of candidates who had returned petition signatures to qualify for the ballot under the newly passed congressional map, revealing State Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) submitted the necessary paperwork to compete with State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) for the Democratic nomination to represent the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

News first emerged earlier this week that Lamar had pulled a petition, and in its Friday update, the Tennessee state agency confirmed that Lamar had returned the necessary signatures to qualify.

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Brent Taylor Announces 30 Endorsements in First Week of Campaign for Tennessee’s Redrawn 9th Congressional District

Tom Pappert
Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Wednesday revealed his campaign to represent Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District has received 30 endorsements since he announced his candidacy last Thursday. Endorsements collected by Taylor include multiple members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation, leaders and legislators in the General Assembly, and prosecutors and sheriffs throughout the newly-redrawn district. 

Taylor’s list includes U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who both endorsed his campaign at launch, but also highlights endorsements from U.S. Representatives Di

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Disgraced Ex-Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Tennessee State Sen. London Lamar Among Democrats Pulling Petitions for New Congressional Districts

Tom Pappert
Barry and Lamar

The Tennessee Secretary of State (TSOS) on Tuesday released a new list of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, revealing more than a dozen new candidates have pulled petitions to begin gathering signatures ahead of potential congressional campaigns.

Prominent Democrats now collecting signatures include former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who has pulled a petition to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District. Barry, who resigned in 2018 after pleading guilty to felony theft of public funds used to facilitate an extramarital affair with her bodyguard, last ran for Congress in the 7th Congressional District in 2024. Her record was expunged in 2021.

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State Rep. Justin Pearson Accused of ‘Evil Race-Baiting’ After Confirming Intention to Run in Tennessee’s Redrawn 9th Congressional District

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was accused of using “race baiting” in his campaign advertisement announcing the relaunch of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District, where first launched his campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) before the Governor Bill Lee signed the newly redrawn districts into law.

As part of the redistricting legislation, candidates must refile, or file notice they no longer intend to run, by Friday. With his video, Pearson confirmed he intends to run in the same district, despite most analysts saying the district now leans overwhelmingly Republican.  

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GOP State Rep. Todd Warner Launches Bid for Newly-Drawn 9th Congressional District

Kaitlin Housler
Todd Warner

State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) announced his candidacy for Tennessee’s newly-drawn 9th Congressional District on Monday shortly after filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) declaring himself a candidate in the race.

Warner’s filing with the FEC and official campaign announcement comes one day after he appeared on an episode of the podcast Patriot Punkcast, where he informally announced his intent to run for the congressional seat.

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Fresh off Campaign Launch, Brent Taylor Self-Funds $1 Million in Race for Tennessee’s New 9th Congressional District

Tom Pappert
Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Thursday provided The Tennessee Star with confirmation he ordered a $1 million transfer of his personal wealth to his newly launched campaign for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which will be redrawn after the Tennessee General Assembly passed redistricting legislation.

Taylor’s cash injection comes within hours of the launch of his congressional campaign, which began moments after the State Senate passed legislation to make the 9th Congressional District winnable for a Republican candidate for the first time in more than 50 years. Taylor was immediately endorsed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who said he will be a conservative fighter for Memphis and a close ally of President Donald Trump if elected. 

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Indiana Republicans Who Did Not Support State’s Redistricting Effort Suffer Primary Defeats

Daily Caller News Foundation
Indiana Republicans

At least five of the seven Republican Indiana state senators whom President Donald Trump targeted for defeat lost their reelection bids Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

The president had endorsed primary challengers against seven of the 21 Republicans in the Indiana state Senate who voted in December 2025 to block a redistricting effort backed by Trump and Gov. Mike Braun that would have likely flipped both of the state’s Democratic-held seats to the GOP in the midterms. Of the Trump-backed outsiders, five were able to pull of victories in a state the president carried by 19 points in 2024, with one race too close to call as of Wednesday morning — a positive early sign of Trump’s influence over his party’s electorate as November approaches.

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Commentary: The Rise of Lawfare Candidates

RealClearWire
Ryan Crosswell

One of the beneficiaries of Virginia’s aggressive attempt to gerrymander the state for Democratic advantage could be a former federal prosecutor whose campaign for Congress hinges on his efforts to use the law to target President Trump and his supporters.

When a slim majority of Virginia voters gave the legislature authority last month to create congressional districts that could give Democrats a 10-1 advantage, J.P. Cooney cheered the  outcome in a message on social media, boasting that the new district he was running in had been drawn “expressly for the purpose of standing up to Donald Trump’s and MAGA’s corruption.”

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to Run for Reelection

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell confirmed this week to multiple outlets that he will seek reelection in 2027 to “strengthen the foundation” of his administration’s policies.

O’Connell, elected in 2023, said his decision to run again is driven largely by the long-term nature of several major initiatives already underway, including his signature “Choose How You Move” transportation plan, redevelopment of the East Bank, and investments in “affordable housing.”

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TN-06 GOP Candidate Johnny Garrett Boasts $1.4 Million Cash on Hand

Kaitlin Housler
Johnny Garrett

State Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville), who is running for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, announced Monday that his campaign has approximately $1,400,000 in cash on hand with less than four months to go until the August 6 Republican primary.

In a press release, Garrett’s campaign said it raised nearly $520,000 during the first quarter of 2026, adding to the over $1 million cash on hand the campaign reported at the beginning of the year after it had raised $450,000 during the fourth quarter of 2025 and over $725,000 during the previous quarter.

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Analysis: 14 States Allow Mail-In Ballots to Count Even After Election Day

Daily Caller News Foundation
Mail-In Ballot

The Supreme Court indicated Monday it may restrict laws in 14 states allowing mail-in ballots received after polls close to count.

During oral arguments for Watson v. Republican National Committee (RNC), multiple justices questioned the reasoning of a Mississippi law which allows mail-in ballots received up to five days after the close of polls to count, as long as they have been postmarked by Election Day. The Court is expected to rule on the case by the end of June, the Associated Press (AP) reported, and its decision has the potential to affect not just Mississippi but the other 13 mostly blue states that have similar late ballot deadline laws on the books.

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Tennessee Democrat Pledges Challenge, Write-In Campaign After Reportedly Falling One Signature Short in Petition for Reelection Bid

Tom Pappert
GA Hardaway

After the petition returned by Tennessee State Representative G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) for his 2026 reelection campaign was determined to have included an insufficient number of signatures, a spokesman reportedly confirmed the 10-term lawmaker intends to challenge the decision, or else begin a write-in campaign in order to keep his seat.

Following the March 10 deadline, the Commercial Appeal reported on Thursday that Hardaway was one valid signature short, leaving no candidates qualified for the District 93 race. The outlet reported that Hardaway would need to launch a write-in campaign for the Democratic Party’s nomination by June 16, or if he decides against running in the party’s primary, to declare his write-in candidacy for the general election by September 14.

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