In the wake of the narrow leadership election for the Williamson County Republican Party (WCRP), which saw the Elevate-2025 slate of candidates win, with chairman candidate Steve Hickey elected by a margin of just 44 votes, The Tennessee Star obtained an email sent by Williamson County Conservatives Secretary candidate Kimberly Calcote, which demands information raw data from the WCRP Reorganizing Convention held on Tuesday ahead of a possible appeal of the election results.
Calcote wrote in a Thursday email to Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden and other party officials to report that party members reported “issues and irregularities” with the contest in the days after the contention. After suggesting that declining to address their concerns could lead to a loss of trust among Williamson County Republicans, Calcote requested data and names from the party about the Tuesday contest.
“Over the course of the last two days, many supporters of our ticket have shared personal accounts of issues and irregularities in how registration, check in, and voting at the March 4th WCRP Reorganization Convention were conducted,” wrote Calcote.
Noting the “questionable activities that occurred in our country in the November 2020 Election,” Calcote called it “vital” for the party to “take all matters of election security and integrity seriously,” and work with the Williamson County Conservatives slate of candidates to resolve voters’ “concerns about the integrity of the WCRP Election.”
To this end, Calcote sent 20 requests on behalf of her slate.
These requests include a list of all voters who pre-registered, including how many confirmed they are Bona Fide Republicans, meaning they voted in at least three of the last four Republican nominating events.
Calcote also requested a list of the voters who registered to vote on the day of the convention and were deemed eligible, as well as those who arrived to participate but were deemed not to be Bona Fide Republicans. She then requested the identities of those responsible for making this determination.
The next series of requests revolved around the wristbands that were assigned to eligible voters and then removed in exchange for a ballot by convention officials, including their chain of custody, before claiming there was a 30-minute period where the wristbands were assigned to voters without observers from the Williamson County Conservatives slate of candidates present.
Calcote requested party officials provide a “[l]ist of all voters who checked in and received wrist bands to vote between 4:00 pm and 4:30 pm,” and added as a parenthetical, “Please note that Check In was officially announced start at 4:30 but began at 4:00 on 3/4/2025 without any observers for the WCC ticket present.”
She also requested log books used to check-in eligible voters, the chain of custody for those log books, and the chain of custody reports for all ballots present at the convention before additionally requesting the number of ballots brought to the convention, how many were distributed to voters, and how many remained after the voting process was complete.
The former candidate for WCRP Secretary also requested the identities of the individuals who had access to the voting room, where the wristbands were exchanged for ballots, and for the party officials to determine if workers present in the voting room were determined to be Bona Fide Republicans who were eligible to participate in the contest.
Calcote requested Golden to provide the information by the end of Friday. While she confirmed her request was not an appeal of the election contest, she requested information that suggested one could be forthcoming.
“Please note this is not a request for an appeal, however if you would please let me know what that process would be for an appeal of the results are in case [it] needs to be utilized to ensure the integrity of this election,” wrote Calcote.
Calcote’s concerns in the wake of the election come after voters on the Williamson County Republican slate expressed concerns about voter suppression ahead of the contest. Voters reported receiving emails that incorrectly claimed they were not Bona Fide Republicans and would be ineligible to participate in the reorganizing contest.
Concerns were exacerbated by the previous reorganizing contest, where one of the individuals leading the credentialing committee refused to recuse despite being the spouse of one of the candidates.
A historic 1,555 votes were cast during the Tuesday contest, which party officials said was a record for the WCRP.
In addition to Hickey narrowly beating Clifford by 44 votes, Diane Chenard was elected First Vice Chairman with 799 votes to Ali Adair’s 743; Elliott Franklin was elected Second Vice Chairman with 786 votes over Drell Floyd’s 754; Courtney Laginess was winning Third Vice Chairman with 791 votes to Patti Carroll’s 754; Tim Raynaud was elected Treasurer with 810 votes to Michelle Sutton’s 730; Brandon Bell was narrowly elected Assistant Treasurer with 783 votes to Steven Tyler Giorno’s 759; Leigh Ann Cates was elected Secretary with 804 votes to Kimberly Calcote’s 735, and Peg Raciti was elected Assistant Secretary with 787 votes to Rob Verell’s 748.
Of the Elevate-2025 candidates elected on Tuesday, four were previously leadership members.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
