State Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2020.
Holt, who will have served 10 years in the Tennessee House of Representatives, serves Weakley and parts of Obion and Carroll counties.
Holt is the second state Rep. in as many days to announce such a decision.
The day prior, State Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) also announced he would not be running again, as The Tennessee Star reported.
In addition to making the announcement on Thunderbolt Radio Wednesday morning, Holt took to Facebook for a lengthy post on his decision.
After his post recapped the essence of his decade-long service, he shared his current plans of not running again, in accordance with his belief in term limits for all office holders.
“I believe the best term limits are those that are self-imposed,” added Holt.
He called the decision, “a pre-determined outcome,” since he and his wife Ellie, were called to run four terms ago even though they ended up serving five.
The representative has not been reluctant to sponsor legislation that other legislators might shy away from.
Holt sought to have the state’s attorney general defend Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for policies that they adopt requiring students, faculty and staff to use the restroom or locker room corresponding to the individual’s biological sex, more commonly referred to as “the bathroom bill.”
One of his well-known pieces of legislation was called the “Buffering Undo Regulatory Non-Compliance (BURN) Act,” which would prohibit local authorities from issuing traffic citations based solely on evidence from “red-light cameras.” The bill’s moniker coincides with Holt’s burning of a citation he received, which was video-recorded and shared on-line.
Holt sponsored legislation to allow registration with a political party for the purposes of primary voting. This piece of legislation makes the taxpayer-funded lobbying group Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA), which had assets of $5.3 million at the end of 2017, subject to open records. The Star reported.
As a farmer and owner of an agri-tourism business, as well as a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, Holt sponsored or supported many pieces of legislation related to those topics. As a strong Christian and family man with seven children of his own, he also outspokenly opposed the legalization of sports betting last year and votes against alcohol-related bills too.
One of Representative Holt’s biggest successes was last year’s repeal of the professional privilege tax on most professions practicing in the state.
As far as his future plans, Representative Holt promises with a bit of the edginess he is known for, “My actions should not be viewed as a retreat from the political process, it should be viewed as an opportunity to reload.”
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Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Tennessee Star.
