Franklin Mayor Ken Moore Re-Elected in Landslide Victory over Gabrielle Hanson

Franklin Mayor Dr. Ken Moore won re-election Tuesday night against Gabrielle Hanson by a landslide margin, according to unofficial election results by the Williamson County Election Commission.

With all eight voting centers reporting shortly after 8:00 p.m., a total of 12,822 votes were counted for Moore, while just 3,322 votes were counted for Hanson. Only 65 voters voted for a different candidate.

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State Senator Mike Bell Announces He Will Not Seek Re-election in 2022

Tennessee State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) will not be a candidate for re-election in 2022, according to a press release Monday from the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. Bell represents Senate District 9 which covers Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Polk Counties.

Bell was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2006 before moving to the State Senate in 2010.

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Rep. Steve Cohen Announces Re-election Bids for 2020, 2022

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) said he is planning to run for re-election in 2020 and 2022. Cohen made the announcement at a New Year’s Day prayer breakfast Tuesday, WMC said. WMC’s Kendall Downing also tweeted the news, saying, “Congressman Steve Cohen @RepCohen told reporters he’s running for re-election in 2020 and 2022… moments before he told the crowd at the Lowery prayer breakfast. Some pundits had speculated he would step aside in elections to come. Cohen says that’s not the case. @WMCActionNews5.” Congressman Steve Cohen @RepCohen told reporters he’s running for re-election in 2020 and 2022… moments before he told the crowd at the Lowery prayer breakfast. Some pundits had speculated he would step aside in elections to come. Cohen says that’s not the case. @WMCActionNews5 pic.twitter.com/MYvl80XJAI — Kendall Downing (@kendall_downing) January 1, 2019 In response, Cohen tweeted, “Always good to put false rumors aside. Republicans who haven’t been able to  beat me started rumor I would retire due to health concerns. No such luck!” Always good to put false rumors aside. Republicans who haven’t been able to beat me started rumor I would retire due to health concerns. No such luck! https://t.co/8Fw4eKmYQO — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) January 1, 2019…

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New Poll Shows Good News for Trump in Iowa

by Molly Prince   President Donald Trump currently has the support of an overwhelming majority of Iowa’s Republicans, according to a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa poll released on Sunday. The poll shows that two-thirds of Republicans in Iowa say they would “definitely vote to re-elect Trump” if the general election for president were held today. Trump also has a positive approval rating, with 81 percent of respondents approving of his job as president thus far — alternatively, only 14 percent disapprove. Furthermore, over three-quarters of Iowa’s Republicans view him favorably. Interestingly, the poll shows that despite the support that Trump is receiving in Iowa, the state’s Republicans would also welcome a challenge to the presidency in 2020. Sixty-three percent of respondents backed a Republican challenger, while 26 percent thought a challenger should be discouraged. With all of the issues facing Trump, the only issue that polled underwater was his use of Twitter. When asked if it has been a good move to post “potentially inflammatory messages on Twitter on a regular basis,” only 19 percent of Republican voters agreed. More than 70 percent of respondents referred to the move as a “mistake.” The issue most commended by respondents was sending…

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Senator Lamar Alexander Tells The Tennessee Star Report He Will Make a Decision on Whether to Run for Re-Election ‘By the End of This Year’

In an exclusive interview Monday morning with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy on The Tennessee Star Report – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said that he will make a decision on whether to run for a fourth term in the United States Senate before the end of this year, 2018. First elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee in 2002, the 78-year-old Alexander was re-elected in 2008 and 2014. He faced a tough Republican primary challenge in 2014 from former State Rep. Joe Carr (R-Lascassas). Alexander defeated Carr by a 49 percent to 40 percent margin in the primary, then sailed to any easy victory in the general election. Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill asked Alexander the big question about his political future towards the close of the Monday morning interview. You can hear that question and Sen. Alexander’s answer, a transcript of which appears below, beginning at the 9:00 mark in the audio file at the end of this story: Gill: About 7:01 pm on election night everybody started turning their attention towards 2020, I’d argue it’s before that, but whether it’s…

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