NASHVILLE, Tennessee – In the first phase of new leadership in the State of Tennessee, 28 new Representatives were sworn in to the 111th Tennessee General Assembly and the speaker’s gavel was handed from the first female Speaker, Beth Harwell, to Glen Casada. Tennessee’s leadership transition will be complete when…
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State Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville) has joined the list of legislators who want to succeed Beth Harwell as the next Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Hawk told The Tennessee Star he will do things differently than his predecessors. Hawk’s first priority — creating a committee system that he…
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As The Tennessee Star reported Wednesday, the gubernatorial candidates have engaged in a venue-filled, final days sprint across the state to rally votes for today’s primary. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Candidate schedules, in no particular order, are: Beth Harwell Beth Harwell announced she will…
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Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) is “high” on herself as the only gubernatorial candidate who wants to legalize medical marijuana which she usually refers to as “cannabis” as a way to make non-smokers believe she isn’t really talking about weed – known by some as mary jane,…
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A new ad from a PAC called TN State Victory touting gubernatorial candidate Beth Harwell’s support of medical marijuana has hit the airwaves. Sources tell The Tennessee Star the PAC is spending $87,000 to run the ad on broadcast and cable television stations around the state, beginning today and continuing…
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The candidate President Trump endorsed last week won the Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary runoff last night in a landslide.
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Randy Boyd set off a chain reaction when he cancelled Sunday night’s GOP gubernatorial candidate primary debate in Knoxville. Now, one reporter says the cancellation was due to a “pricey steakhouse dinner,” as first reported at TNJ: On the Hill. Boyd had cited an unspecified scheduling conflict as his reason…
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A new poll released by JMC Analytics and Polling on Monday morning shows that Bill Lee now leads the Republican gubernatorial primary. The poll of 500 registered Republican voters conducted between July 18 and July 21 puts Lee in first place with 26 percent, followed by Randy Boyd in second…
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Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) launched a new television ad in connection with her “major announcement” on Friday that she was backing efforts to legalize medical marijuana in Tennessee.
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Jeff Hartline explains why he has eliminated three politicians and chosen to support Bill Lee for Governor of Tennessee.
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What do you get when horse-race gambling meets legal weed? Beth Harwell for governor! There was an “interesting” welcome line-up for Harwell’s June meet and greet in Jefferson City putting Harwell and company only about 20 miles northeast of GOP challenger mega-millionaire Randy Boyd’s home of Knoxville. Four state legislators…
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A top political analyst says he is not surprised that three of the candidates running in the Tennessee Republican gubernatorial primary dropped out of the last statewide televised debate scheduled for this weekend in Knoxville. The cancellation comes after Randy Boyd, Beth Harwell and Diane Black dropped out, WKRN said. “My…
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This past May, seven states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sued the federal government to stop Obama’s unconstitutional DACA administrative amnesty program once and for all. To date, Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery has not joined the lawsuit. In fact, it appears that Slatery has done an about…
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The state gas tax increased another 1 cent per gallon today, thanks to the IMPROVE Act passed by Democrats and “moderate” Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam in May 2017. The controversial law raised state gas taxes by 6 cents per gallon…
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The second in a series of three debates between the four candidates for the Republican nomination for governor broadcast across the state produced few fireworks on Wednesday night. However, it may have helped Bill Lee introduce himself and gain traction as voters begin to increase their focus on a race…
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Come November, the winner of the GOP primary for Beth Harwell’s District 56 seat will face off against Democrat Bob Freeman, son of wealthy real estate developer and former Nashville mayoral candidate Bill Freeman. Republican primary opponents Nashville attorney Joseph Williams (pictured, right) and dermatologist Brent Moody (pictured, left) strike…
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Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who also served two terms as mayor of Baltimore, has endorsed Karl Dean in the Democratic primary for Tennessee’s next governor, as The Tennessee Star reported on Monday. The possibility has been floated that O’Malley will campaign in Tennessee on behalf of Dean. O’Malley, like…
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As The Tennessee Star has reported, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has received the Tennessee Education Association’s endorsement for the Republican nomination for Governor. The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE), which is the PAC and political arm for the teachers’ union in Tennessee, has endorsed…
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Governor Haslam announced today that instead of signing or vetoing the anti-sanctuary city bill he will allow it to become law without his signature: I could sign it but that would mean that I agree that we have an issue around sanctuary cities. In that regard, intentionally or not, the…
Read More Open borders and leftist groups are demanding Governor Haslam veto the sanctuary city bill. Proponents of the bill who don’t want criminal illegal aliens released into their communities, want the bill to become law – with or without the Governor’s signature. Putting HB2315 into state law helps Haslam make good…
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After Renata Soto, founder and director of Nashville-based Conexion Americas became a leader in the National Council of La Raza, both GOP gubernatorial candidates Beth Harwell and Randy Boyd, helped elevate her influence in political circles. The Tennessee Judicial Council first appointed Soto to the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC)…
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After months of preparing for the annual year-end assessments, many Tennessee students struggled to log on to the TNReady testing platform Monday morning. The Department of Education says the problem was quickly fixed by the vendor, and over 20,000 students took the test after the problems were resolved. “We share…
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On Tuesday Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) called on State Rep. David Byrd (R-Waynesboro), the sponsor of a bill that would allow teachers to be armed while in school, to resign after hearing an inconclusive audio recording of a phone conversation he had last month with a woman who now claims…
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After three years and little success, the Tennessee Department of Education remains riddled with problems implementing statewide online testing platforms, TNReady. According to an email blast from Chief Information Officer for the Tennessee Department of Education Cliff Lloyd on March 6, the state’s online testing platform experienced more technical difficulties…
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Remember the first time two Republican legislators filed a bill to give illegal immigrants taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition and when it didn’t pass, House member Richard Floyd started crying? Remember the second time two Republican legislators filed a bill to give illegal immigrants taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition? And Governor Haslam,…
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by Steve Osborn The folks in the grassroots conservative movement have been working hard these last few years trying to be the Vanguards of Liberty, and trying to undo the damage inflicted on our nation by liberals. We may disagree from time to time on issues, tactics, or candidates, but…
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The commission that will be recommending new social studies textbooks for Tennessee students is operating with a majority of its members unconfirmed by the legislature or still serving after their terms have expired. The 10-member Tennessee State Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission currently has only four positions that do…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee–The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) Gubernatorial Forum on Education held at Belmont University’s Curb Center on Tuesday turned out to be a slow-moving draw punctuated by partisan differences between the three Republicans and two Democrats in attendance over in-state-tuition for illegals. Each of the five participating candidates…
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The Gubernatorial Candidate Educational Forum will be held at Belmont University and broadcast on NewsChannel 5 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm tonight, Tuesday, January 22. The Tennessee Star will be there, along with six of the seven leading gubernatorial candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties. Republicans in attendance…
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At the eighth annual South West Tennessee Development District (SWTDD) Legislative Luncheon held January 3, one of the topics discussed by the gubernatorial candidates in attendance is the need for an additional $72 million to address infrastructure at the Memphis Regional Megasite. The Memphis Regional Megasite is a 4,100-acre state-owned…
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Gubernatorial candidate and Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) said at a gathering earlier in the month that after her sister sustained an injury, she has personal interest in the issue of medical marijuana. Regarding the task force she formed earlier in the year on the issue, she said,…
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Speaker of the Tennessee House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee in a statement released by her campaign at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning. “Tennessee needs someone who possesses the experience from day one to lead our state to the next level…
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WKRN is reporting that Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) may be in the race for the Republican nomination for governor as early as Sunday. “Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has been quietly calling people over the last week telling them she is definitely running for governor,” WKRN reported late Saturday: News…
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