Gov. Bill Lee Unable to Explain Why He Criticizes Removal of Morgan Ortagus from GOP Primary Ballot but Supports Removal of His Two Gubernatorial Rivals

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Governor Bill Lee could not explain why he believes Morgan Ortagus should be on the Tennessee 5th Congressional District Republican primary ballot when his Republican primary opponents’ were reportedly about to be disqualified from the ballot during a joint press conference held with U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN)after a law enforcement roundtable on border security Wednesday afternoon.

Hagerty and Lee briefly opened with statements on border security and the roundtable discussion that was held before they took questions. Lee was asked several questions about pending legislation before the Tennessee General Assembly, one of which was a question about Ortagus’ disqualification from the Republican primary.

After several questions on other topics were asked of Hagerty as well as Lee, a reporter asked the governor, “Do you think that Morgan Ortagus should run in District 5?”

Lee responded, “I think that voters of the 5th district should decide who represents them in Congress.”

A few minutes later, The Tennessee Star asked Lee two follow-up questions on the Tennessee GOP (TNGOP)’s ruling disqualifying Ortagus from the TN-5 race as well as its expected ruling eliminating Lee’s two Republican primary opponents from the ballot.

1 – Do you believe that the party has the right to do that based on its bylaws, which is established by the bylaws and the state code?

2 – Would you comment the likelihood that some candidates in opposition to you in the primary are probably going to tossed out of the race and off the ballot in accordance with those bylaws?

Lee replied to the first question, saying, “The State Executive Committee has their rules and they’ve followed their process.”

On the second question, Lee said, “All I’ll say about that, I believe and I’ve said before, I think the voters should decide who their representatives are.”

Yes, Every Kid

Lee declined to outright state whether he agrees or disagrees with either the TNGOP bylaws or the state code that empowers the political parties in Tennessee to decide the qualifications for running in a primary.

Challenges in accordance with the TNGOP bylaws were filed to the bona fide Republican status of Lee’s two gubernatorial primary opponents, Patricia Anne Morrison and Curtis Carney. In accordance with the bylaws and the state code, the TNGOP removed Lee’s two opponents from the ballot and were reportedly slated to vote on whether to restore them to the ballot sometime on Wednesday. The deadline to notify the Tennessee Secretary of State if a candidate is restored to the ballot is before noon on April 21.

Sources close to the process told The Star prior to the press availability that Morrison and Carney were going to be kept off the ballot and disqualified by a vote of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee. In the case of Carney, The Star was told that he had failed to vote in any election since 2016. Carney reportedly disputes that but failed at this time to produce a voter history record demonstrating evidence to the contrary, according to the sources.

As of press time, it is unclear if that final disqualification occurred.

The same process in which carpetbaggers Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, as well as Tennessee native Baxter Lee were disqualified from running in the 5th Congressional District GOP primary is reportedly being used to disqualify Lee’s opponents in the Republican primary for governor.

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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 “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee. 

 

 

 

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10 Thoughts to “Gov. Bill Lee Unable to Explain Why He Criticizes Removal of Morgan Ortagus from GOP Primary Ballot but Supports Removal of His Two Gubernatorial Rivals”

  1. […] going to have a delightful conversation right now about our lead story at The Tennessee Star, the tennesseestar.com. Governor Bill Lee doesn’t answer any of our questions, ever. Except for yesterday, he did […]

  2. Jay

    Maybe Mitt Romney moves toTN.

  3. Cannoneer2

    He can’t/won’t answer because there is one standard for pampered Williamson County Republicans and another for the rest of us.

  4. 83ragtop50

    Lee is just another rich two-bit political hack. Tennessed has had a lot of them in the last 20-25 years. He put an “R” after his name but is nothing more than a Democrat in sheep’s clothing. About the only thing I agree with him about the current candidate eligibility question is that the voters need to be the ultimate decision makers. I sure hope and pray that a true conservative shoves Lee into the ditch in the election. And he can take Penny Schwinn with him.

  5. Dave R

    The “Conservative” press like Breitbart and Gateway are telling their readers the RINOs are keeping Ortagus and Starbuck out. Its laughable how wrong they are

  6. Tom

    It’s Not a hard concept….TN wants proven conservative Tennesseans to represent them. Why should it be any other way?

  7. Randall Davidson

    All Lee cares about is getting reelected. I will not be voting for this guy. Just as pitiful as Cooper.

  8. Tim Price

    Lee is exhibiting the traits of a RINO!

  9. Mark Knofler

    Evidently this has hit a nerve with the National Media. FYI Media, it’s not TN politics, it’s the candidates. Starbuck still acts and talks like a west coast liberal, and Ortagus is just another DC swamp dweller.

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