Twenty individuals are now listed as collecting qualifying petitions for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District race as of last Friday by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office.
Fourteen people are collecting qualifying petitions for the GOP primary, three are gathering petitions for the Democrat primary, and three independents are also accumulating petitions.
The 14 Republicans listed on the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website as collecting petitions are former Speaker of the Tennessee House Beth Harwell of Nashville, businessman Baxter Lee of Nashville, Robby Starbuck of Franklin (listed as Robert Starbuck Newsom), Geni Batchelor of Lebanon, Natisha Brooks of Nashville, former Williamson County GOP Chair Omar Hamada of Franklin, Timothy Bruce Lee of Nashville, Annabelle Lee of Madison, Alan Clement Sharp of Nashville, David Vitalli of Brentwood, Stewart Parks of Nashville, and Richie Lee of Nashville. General Kurt Winstead of Franklin and Tres Wittum of Nashville are the additions to the list.
Tennessee newcomer and former State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus has not yet been listed as having begun her qualifying petitions process. Hamada has not yet made a decision yet, but he did tell The Tennessee Star that he is having serious discussions about his potential candidacy with several prominent national campaign consultants. Tres Wittum has not publicly announced but has told The Star that the exploratory process has been very positive.
Federal Elections Commission records show that Harwell, Starbuck, Brooks, Baxter Lee, Ortagus, Winstead, Batchelor, and Timothy Bruce Lee have also filed candidate paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Starbuck has raised $255,066.53 and has $138,741.16 on hand, which Brooks has raised $24,517.00 and has $19,655.34 on hand. The rest filed their paperwork after the year-end December 31, 2021 deadline. The 2022 first quarter January 1-March 31 financial reports, which are scheduled to be released in mid-April, will cover all candidates who have reached the FEC reporting threshold. Quincy McKnight is also listed on the FEC website, but he has withdrawn from the race and endorsed Ortagus.
Clay Faircloth, Richard H. Harris, and Joel Michael Hurbert, all from Nashville, are collecting petitions for the Democrat primary.
Derrick Brantley of Nashville, Patrick O. Halfacre of Hohenwald, and Richard A. Shannon of Franklin are the independents collecting petitions. Shannon appeared on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy. Only Brantley appears to have filed documents with the FEC.
In order to appear on the ballot, candidates must collect 25 valid signatures from registered voters and have until noon on April 7 to turn in those qualifying petitions. In the GOP primary, the Tennessee Republican Party must also verify with the state that those individuals are bona fide Republicans for their names to appear on the August 4 ballot.
Candidates who qualify have until April 14 to withdraw their names from the ballot. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office told The Star that unless pending legislation changes things, they will finalize the ballots on April 21.
The 5th Congressional District consists of parts of Davidson, Williamson, and Wilson counties, and all of Maury, Marshall, and Lewis counties.
The new TN-5 is considered to be a Republican stronghold. The Cook Political Report gives the race a Solid Republican rating.
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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.
What about this district is so appealing that 20 people are vying for the seat? Is there gold or diamonds there or something? Is this their step into the grift for a lifetime of perks? What makes 20 people run for a seat that is lucky if there are 2 people running? This just doesn’t pass the smell test!