Former Tennessee House Majority Leader and current State Representative John Mark Windle (I-Wartburg) 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 re-election as an Independent as well.
The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office lists four candidates whose qualifying petitions signatures have been approved, including Windle’s. The others are running in the Republican primary. They are Ed Butler of Cookeville, Bradley Hayes of Deer Lodge, and Michael C. Swisher of Rocky Top.
No Democrat candidate filed qualifying petitions.
Windle ran unopposed in his 2020 re-election campaign. Ed Butler previously ran against him in 2018. Windle defeated Butler by receiving 10,814 votes to 8,796.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that a source familiar with the workings of the Tennessee Democratic Party’s executive committee told The Star that the Tennessee Democrats had planned to remove Windle from the ballot after the April 7 petitions deadline if he filed as a Democrat. According to the source, the party would have moved to replace him on the ballot with someone more in line with the current ideals of the Democrat Party.
The source said Windle was on the chopping block because he supports gun rights. The plan, which due to Windle switching parties was never executed, was to have the committee vote to remove Windle from the ballot, in effect declaring him no longer a valid Democrat after the April 7 deadline for candidates to qualify for the ballot, the source said.
Windle is a colonel in the Tennessee National Guard. He previously deployed to Kosovo and served two combat tours to Iraq. During his first tour, he was injured during a mortar attack.
The Star previously reached out to several Democratic state lawmakers, and none of them said they had heard about any attempt to remove Windle from the ballot by the Democratic Party leadership.
State Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville): “I am confident that this is fake news, as all elected Democratic members are advocates of the Second Amendment. I’ve heard nothing but positive comments about Representative Windle from the Democratic Caucus and from the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee.
State Rep. Dwayne Thompson (D-Cordova): “I have not heard anything about the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee planning anything regarding Chairman Windle or any other incumbent Democrat. The Democratic Caucus regards Chairman Windle as a valuable member, and we all stand by him. I stand ready to strongly oppose any efforts to interrupt his re-election campaign.”
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis): “I have no idea. First I’ve heard.”
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville): “I have heard no such thing, and I would strongly oppose any such effort. Representative John Mark Windle is one of the longest-serving and most respected elected officials in Tennessee. I would happily welcome 25 more Democrats like John Mark Windle in the state legislature tomorrow.”
The Tennessee Firearms Association said in a statement, “Knowing the fact that Rep. Windle has in fact been a steadfast supporter not just of the Second Amendment in Tennessee but on many conservative issues, it was expected that he would have easily been re-elected in his district in November. His decision to leave the AOC-driven leadership of the Democrat party to represent his constituents and stand on his principles suggests he may well be serving in 2023 as an Independent in the Tennessee Legislature.”
Per the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, the 41st House District consists of Morgan County, Overton County, Roane County, and parts of Anderson County and Fentress County.
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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, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “John Mark Windle” by Tennessee General Assembly. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Ken Lund. CC BY-SA 2.0.
I am a bit guarded on this one. Is he “Republican” on the 2nd Amendment issues but democrat on all others? With whom will he caucus. In the US Senate, in example, Bernie Sanders calls himself an Independent but votes hard core democrat. Is that Windle on the local scene? I agree with Randall Davidson commenting to the vote to remove the bust of Nathan Forrest, is Windle a lock step democrat aligning with all woke issues? If so, run him out the door. This “conversion” to Independent is nothing more than a ploy to try garner votes from the right. I don’t vote in his district so my only comment will be to align with one more committed to conservative principles. I would reject Windle.
you cant be pro 2A nor pro life and be a democrat. it’s that simple.
Windle voted to remove the bust of Nathan Forrest from our capitol. I for one am glad he’s gone. He’s certainly no staunch republican.