Tennessee State Senator Frank Nicely Says State GOP Bylaws Require Potential Primary Candidates to Have Voted in 3 of the Last 4 GOP Primaries in Tennessee, Not Other States

 

Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senator of District 8, Frank Nicely to the newsmakers line to weigh in on GOP primary candidate bylaws and eligibility standards.

Leahy: We welcome to our newsmaker line, Senator Frank Nicely of District Eight.

Nicely: Good to be with you. How are you this morning?

Leahy: We are delighted to have you on the program today, State Senator. And there’s been some controversy, I suppose you could say, or some discussion about the eligibility someone to run in the Tennessee primary.

And in particular, there’s been a big controversy Senator, about exactly who is eligible to run. We went and looked at the bylaws, and there was something there that caught my attention.

You brought it to my attention, in terms of establishing bona fides. It said any individual who had voted in at least three of the four most recent wait for it…statewide Republican primary elections. That’s one of the standards. What, Senator nicely, is your interpretation of that?

Yes, Every Kid

Nicely: Well, it’s pretty clear that that’s intended to be Tennessee primaries. Tennessee has a residence requirement for a governor. You have to live here seven years to run for governor. You have to live here five years to be a judge or attorney general, and three years to run to the State Senate or the State House.

And for the State Senate, you have to live in the district for a year. So it’s clear that the intent of that bylaw was that they be Tennessee Republican primaries because all states do not have Republican primaries.

Some have jungle primaries where everybody runs in the same primary, like California. California doesn’t have a Republican primary. Some states select their nominees with a caucus, some with a convention.

So it’s pretty obvious that the Constitution requires all these residence requirements. And it’s pretty obvious that the state party would not imply that you could come in from some states that had a Republican primary but not states that had other ways of selecting their nominees.

So it’s pretty obvious. Of course, there’s the letter of the law and there is intent of the law. And one thing I’ve learned in all these years in legislatures, it’s hard to get it exactly right the first time.

Leahy: Yes, exactly. Let me come back to this, if you don’t mind. And again, I’m going to read the letter of the rule, ‘The standard for being a bona fide Republican and therefore eligible to run for a primary contest either at the statewide level or the national level, is this:

‘Any individual who has voted in at least three of the four most recent statewide Republican primary elections.’

Now statewide, it’s interesting because you pointed out California does not have statewide Republican primaries.

Robby Starbuck, who is one of the announced candidates, has not voted in March 2020 or August 2020 Tennessee Republican primary elections, according to records provided to us by the Williamson County election officials.

He has not denied that in terms that those documents are wrong. Although he repeatedly claims that he is eligible. We went back and looked, and I’ve seen a document that purports to be Robby Starbuck’s voting record from California that does show he voted in a 2018 direct primary.

That’s a jungle primary. Which means you vote for anybody in any party that would not meet the standard of a statewide Republican primary. Is that right?

Nicely: Exactly right.

Leahy: Let me follow up with this, if you don’t mind. What about in the case of Morgan Ortagus, who’s been endorsed by President Donald Trump, not yet announced, registered to vote here in Tennessee two months ago.

She apparently never lived here anytime before 2021. She lived in Washington, D.C. in 2020. There was a primary in Washington, D.C., Republican primary in June.

We don’t know if she voted in it or not, but according to the letter of the law, the District of Columbia is not a state. So that alone would not qualify as one of the three or four.

Nicely: Right. You’re exactly right. And you know, here’s the deal. We all love Donald Trump, but we don’t want him telling us who to vote for.

Tennessee is probably the best managed state in the nation. And we didn’t get this way by electing foreigners. We got this way by electing Tennesseans.

Leahy: (Chuckles) Well, that’s a very interesting way to describe it. And there does appear to be a different interpretation of the rules on this.

The chairman, Scott Golden of the Tennessee Republican Party said his interpretation of it yesterday and we didn’t go to the letter of the rule there, said that he thought that you could import primary voting records from other states. What you’re saying is I think the opposite of that. How will that be resolved?

Nicely: That’s a good question. And I don’t think Scott’s thinking this through. And he got a lot of pressure on him. Trump’s leaning on you. He’s under a lot of pressure. But it’s obvious to me that Scott’s wrong on this.

Leahy: How will it be resolved?

Nicely: I think the Republican Committee men and women in that district touching that if they vote, that may resolve it, but it may go to court.  People can argue about what time it is the rest of their life, as long as they’re getting paid, two lawyers can argue about anything.

So it’s going to be interesting. I don’t know, but I just go back, if you read the law, it says Republican primaries. All states don’t have primaries.

So it’s ridiculous to think that the state party would have bylaws that let you come in from some states but not let you come in from other states. That’s the ridiculous part of that.

Leahy: So if we play this all out, I think what’s likely to happen is there will be a challenge probably to both Robby Starbuck and Morgan Ortagus. And they’ll look at the primary voting record, and clearly, Robby Starbuck won’t meet it because he didn’t vote in two Tennessee primaries.

It’s possible that somebody will say, well, the bylaws mean that Morgan Ortagus isn’t eligible because she didn’t vote in Tennessee primaries.

Whatever is decided by the state executive committee I think there will be a legal challenge.

State Senator Frank Nicely thanks so much for joining us today. And will you come in-studio sometime?

Nicely: I’d be glad to. You do a great job and keep up the good work.

Leahy: You are a gentleman and a scholar and a great legislator.

Nicely: Friend of the farmer.

Listen to the interview:

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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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