The pieces are falling into place for the Tennessee GOP House Caucus to select the new speaker, with a couple of new faces entering the race this week.
The caucus will meet July 24 to pick a nominee to replace disgraced outgoing Speaker and Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) of Franklin, The Tennessee Star said. The meeting was called by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-TN-44) of Portland.
In a statement issued by Lamberth Wednesday, he said his call for the caucus meeting came, “following conversations with our members of the last several days.”
In an exclusive interview with the USA TODAY Network – Tennessee, State Rep. Ryan Williams (R-TN-42) said he wants to unite the party and rebuild the state GOP brand.
“I think there are some chasms between some members and others in our caucus, but the goal here is to unite the differences,” he said. “Like Ronald Reagan said, focus on the 80% we agree on.”
Williams, a former GOP caucus chairman from Cookeville, is not the only candidate.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press said the other declared candidates for speaker are Reps. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) of Ooltewah and Curtis Johnson (R-TN-68) of Clarksville, GOP Caucus Chairman Cameron Sexton (R-TN-65) of Crossville, Deputy Speaker Matthew Hill (R-TN-07) of Jonesborough and Rep. Jay Reedy (R-TN-74) of Erin.
More information about Reedy’s position is here, while more about Carter is here. For more information on Hill, go here.
Sexton told The Tennessean this week he was in the race.
Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday called for a special session on Aug. 23 for the official vote.
He tweeted, “It is in the best interest of our State to select a new Speaker of the House, and so I am calling a special session of the General Assembly for August 23 to accomplish that purpose.”
It is in the best interest of our State to select a new Speaker of the House, and so I am calling a special session of the General Assembly for August 23 to accomplish that purpose.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 27, 2019
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Background Photo “Tennessee House of Representatives” by Ichabod. CC BY-SA 3.0
