Williamson Families PAC called on now-convicted felon and judicial candidate Connie Reguli to withdraw from the Williamson County May 3 Republican primary.
The Williamson Families PAC, which is a conservative group based in Franklin, Tennessee, previously endorsed Reguli but the political action committee retracted the endorsement.
A statement was released on Facebook after Reguli was convicted of a misdemeanor and two felonies.
“I am sure you are troubled like we are at yesterday’s court ruling concerning judicial candidate Connie Reguli. When we spoke to Ms. Reguli, we based our decision to support her on information the court has determined to be untrue,” the group said. “We need judges who the community will trust to uphold the law and promote justice – especially with youth and families in distress.”
The group ended the statement by retracting its endorsement and calling on Reguli to withdraw from the race.
“Per 1 Timothy 3:2, a leader is to be above reproach, and that bar has not been met in this case,” the group said. “Williamson Families fully retracts our support and calls on Ms. Reguli to withdraw from the race.”
The Tennessee Star previously reported that Reguli was found guilty of a misdemeanor and two Class E felonies due to her 2018 role in a situation that resulted in a missing child being found in her home. Reguli is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24 for the charges.
Additionally, the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee shows a record that Reguli has been suspended from the practice of law due to the prior mentioned convictions.
A Williamson County election official confirmed that Reguli was still on the ballot for the May 3 primary.
“The names appearing on the official ballot have not changed,” the official said.
Due to pending litigation, the election official would not comment further.
The qualifications for serving on the juvenile court bench include “[s]hall be licensed to practice law in this state. (TCA 16-15-5005).” Given Reguli’s current suspended status, she is ineligible to serve on the bench.
Reguli is running in the May 3 GOP primary against incumbent Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Guffee. She named Guffee and others, including the state of Tennessee, as defendants in a lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in part because Guffee was the judge in a case involving Reguli’s daughter.
According to court documents, Guffee repeatedly ruled against Reguli’s position in the case. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed the case against Guffee and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed its decision.
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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 “Connie Reguli” by Connie Reguli.Â
This comes two days too late for me, I already voted. That’s one of the downsides of early voting.
NEVER vote early!
When you evaluate Andy Ogels’s record you will change your endorsement of him as well. He raised Maury County taxes, increased deficit spending, bought himself a new SUV and new furniture the moment he took office. Research what Maury County Republicans are saying. It’s not pretty.
Andy and Beth Harwell (ACU-86%) are apparently the only ones vying for the Republican nomination in the 5th District who have a record in elective office so they therefore should be the only ones who should merit consideration by those voters who are determined to send a conservative to Congress. Beth certainly has items in her background that conservatives will want her to explain and from what you say Maury Insider Andy does too. I look forward to Maury County Republicans who are intimately familiar with Andy’s record as County Mayor bringing all aspects of Andy’s record to the attention of Republicans in the rest of the 5th District as well as Andy’s response to any criticism he receives. Until it is shown that Andy talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk, at this early stage of the race I’m with Andy.
Did you know that the Mayor doesn’t raise taxes? It is the County Commission that would be responsible for that as well as the deficit spending! This is the role of the mayor according to the website:
“The County Mayor, formerly County Executive, is Chief Executive Officer of the county. The County Mayor has custody of county property. The County Mayor is a nonvoting ex-officio member of the County Commission and of all its committees. The County Mayor may call special meetings of the County Commission.”
So Ogles couldn’t even vote for raising taxes. He is a NONVOTING member.
I think this “Maury insider” is inching close to defamation. There is nothing wrong with a person (mayor or otherwise) that buys a new SUV or new furniture. Since when is that a crime? It seems to be stated in a way to cast a bad light on Ogles.
Why not give your name if you have something harmful to say about someone? What might be the motive? Do you work for another candidate?