Well-known conservative activist Rebecca Anne Burke’s campaign to replace retiring State Representative Charles Sargent (R-Franklin) hit the ground running this week when the conservative firebrand picked up her qualifying petitions, the first step in the process to get on the ballot for the August Republican primary.
Burke surprised political watchers last September when she declared her intention to challenge Rep. Sargent, a 20-year incumbent, to represent the people of State House District 61, which includes North Franklin, Cool Springs, West and Central Brentwood.
“Many think that we should be worried about the ‘Swamp’ in Washington D.C., but my sights are focused on the ‘Swamp’ in Tennessee,” she said at the time.
Less than a month later, Sargent announced he would not seek re-election.
Currently Burke serves as Williamson County’s State Executive Committeewoman to the Republican Party’s Board of Directors, an office she won in a four-way contest in 2014. In addition to her duties as a Republican Party official, she is a tireless presence in many key wins across the South. In 2016, she served the Trump presidential campaign as voter outreach phone center coordinator in the Orlando, Florida. Most recently, Burke traveled to Georgia to help Karen Handel defeat the heavily favored Democrat en jeune Jon Ossoff in the special election to replace Representative Tom Price in June, 2017.
Burke says she is banking on voters wanting a candidate with unique years of career experience in two hot-button areas of legislation, healthcare and education. The 62-year-old is an award-winning former hospital administrator, outpatient clinic CEO and international healthcare strategic planner. Burke has also accumulated seven years experience in Williamson County Schools as an interim and per diem teacher, certified and licensed to teach grades 6-12.
