Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and presidential candidate, addressed approximately 1,850 attendees as the keynote speaker for the Tennessee Republican Party’s 46th annual Statesmen’s Dinner on Saturday at the Music City Center in Nashville.
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Despite the fact that nearly all elected Republicans who hold federal office in Tennessee have endorsed former President Donald Trump in his 2024 reelection bid, the Tennessee Republican Party (TNGOP) has invited Trump’s main primary opponent to speak at its annual Statesman’s Dinner.
The dinner, which will be held at the end of July, will feature Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as the keynote speaker, according to a video posted by the TNGOP on its website.
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Tennessee Republican Party Chair Scott Golden issued a statement on Tuesday after the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Golden said the last 36 hours had been a “wake up call and a rally cry” for Republicans who care about America.
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The aftermath of the Tennessee Republican Party’s removal of Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee from the TN-5 ballot has seen several news outlets, social media influencers, national political figures, and affected candidates have make misinformed claims.
CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Star News Digital Media Michael Patrick Leahy, which owns and operates The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network, provided a full step-by-step breakdown of what really happened that led to Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee’s disqualification from the TN-5 race.
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Disqualified TN-5 candidate Robby Starbuck is posting frequent calls on social media urging supporters to contact the Tennessee GOP (TNGOP) and demand that the State Executive Committee (SEC) vote to reverse its decision disqualifying him from seeking the Republican nomination.
There’s just one problem: The Tennessee Republican Party is not empowered to put Starbuck back on the ballot and couldn’t reverse its decision even if it wanted to.
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Sean Hannity got the facts completely wrong in a monologue he gave on the Monday, April 25 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program on the Tennessee Republican Party’s action disqualifying carpetbagger Morgan Ortagus from the Tennessee 5th Congressional District August 4 Republican Primary race.
On his radio show, Hannity accused the TNGOP of “actually being willing to change the rules in the middle of the game.”
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Morgan Ortagus, a former candidate for the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, told a Fox News host on Monday morning that she didn’t know why she was disqualified from the ballot.
“You know, I’m not really sure, Brian,” Ortagus responded to Fox News host Brian Kilmeade when he asked her, “You’re not going to have a chance to run for the Republican nomination in Tennessee as a congresswoman. You got booted off the ballot, why?”
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Former TN-5 candidate Morgan Ortagus told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning that the Tennessee Republican Party is corrupt but offered no evidence to corroborate her claims.
Ortagus told Kilmeade at the close of an interview, “We’re going to work on efforts to clean up the corruption here in the Tennessee GOP as well.”
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Many national and local news outlets have reported inaccurately about the process by which the Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) disqualified three candidates from the August 4, 2022 GOP primary ballot in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on April 19, 2022.
In the immediate aftermath of this decision made by the TRP in accordance with its bylaws and the laws of Tennessee, Robby Starbuck (legal name Robert Starbuck Newsom), one of the three disqualified candidates, delivered a series of press interviews and social media statements in which he made false claims about the integrity of the TRP’s process in handling his disqualification.
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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 before he was asked about Ortagus’ disqualification from the Republican primary.
Scott Golden, the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, submitted a letter on Wednesday morning in accordance with party bylaws and the state code to Mark Goins, the coordinator of elections for the state of Tennessee, officially notifying him that disqualified Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidates Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee are removed “completely from the Republican August primary ballot.”
The letter included a notification of the full list of candidates in a variety of races that the TNGOP voted to restore to the ballot, as well as the full list of candidates, in accordance with state law, that the party voted to remove completely.
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Former State Department spokesman and now-former candidate for the GOP nomination for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat Morgan Ortagus issued a statement on the decision by the select committees of the Tennessee Republican Party to disqualify her candidacy.
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TNGOP Scott Golden has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that as of Tuesday evening, Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee, and are no longer candidates for the TN-5 GOP nomination due to a vote by a select committee of the Tennessee Republican party.
The select committee voted not to restore Robby Starbuck, Morgan Ortagus, and Baxter Lee to the ballot after they were previously removed because of verified challenges to their bona fide status.
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FEC records show that Baxter Lee, a candidate for the GOP nomination in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District race has raised $317,380 for the 2022 first quarter reporting period.
Lee also matched his contributions with a personal loan to the campaign, making the total receipts for the first quarter $634,760.
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The first quarter of 2022 finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by TN-5 candidate Robby Starbuck shows that he raised just over $104,000 in the first three months of the year, with 64.73% percent of that– $67,666– coming from out-of-state, and just 35.26 percent of it–$36,857–coming from Tennessee.
Starbuck raised $104,523.78 for the Federal Election Commission reporting period covering January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022 but had a very high burn rate, spending $71,003.56 of it.
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The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office provided partial clarification on the applicability of the newly enacted three-year residency law to carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, but left out a reference to a key part of state code.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that mere hours after the enactment of the new three-year residency law for federal candidates in primaries, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office offered conflicting comments about whether he intends to enforce the new law and remove “carpetbagger” candidates from the August 4 Republican primary ballot.
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Within hours of the enactment of a new law on Wednesday that requires candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee to be residents of the state for three years prior to their placement on a primary ballot, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office offered conflicting comments about whether he intends to enforce the new law and remove “carpetbagger” candidates from the August 4 Republican primary ballot.
Reaction from Tennessee state legislators to the comments from the Secretary of State’s office were swift and pointed.
Sources tell The Tennessee Star that if the Tennessee Secretary of State refuses to enforce the newly enacted law and remove any candidate from the ballot for the U.S. House who fails to meet the three-year residency requirement he will be sued to require him to enforce the law.
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As of April 7, the date of the qualifying petitions filing deadline, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office has approved the submissions of fourteen candidates in the race for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District seat.
Eleven Republicans, one Democrat, and two Independents are listed as by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office as having their petitions signatures approved.
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Sources close to Andy Ogles tell The Tennessee Star that he will announce later this week that he will focus on his bid for the TN-5 GOP nomination and will withdraw as a candidate for re-election as mayor of Maury County.
First elected mayor in 2018, Ogles is currently the GOP nominee for Maury County mayor in the Aug 4 county general election, which is scheduled to be held on the same day and in the same Maury County polling locations as the TN-5 GOP primary election.
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On Saturday, April 9, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden briefed the TNGOP State Executive Committee on the challenge process, explaining that the challenges would be adjudicated before noon on April 21.
Prior to the start of the meeting, there was some confusion, as sources expected the TNGOP to take action on the challenges at Saturday’s meeting.
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Former Williamson County Republican Chair Omar Hamada has endorsed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in the GOP primary for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional district seat.
Hamada had previously considered running for TN-5 himself, but had declared that he would not run if Ogles jumped in. Hamada told The Tennessee Star prior to Ogles’ official announcement that he was against running if Ogles ran because in his view, he did not want to split the conservative vote. “Basically, I think we are the old two true solid conservatives and I don’t want to split the vote and have a moderate win.”
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Retired Brig. General Kurt Winstead announced key personnel additions to his campaign for the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th congressional district.
The Winstead campaign announced that Chris Devaney, campaign manager for Governor Bill Lee’s 2018 campaign, will serve as senior advisor to the campaign. Kim Kaegi, a veteran of numerous successful campaigns across Tennessee, will serve as the campaign finance consultant. Jimmy Granbery will serve as the campaign finance chairman. Granbery is currently the chairman of the H.G. Hill Company and CEO of H.G. Hill Realty Company.
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Records show that a recent entrant into the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, businessman Baxter Lee, voted in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary.
The Tennessee Star reached out to Baxter Lee to confirm the authenticity of the voting record supplied by the Williamson County Election Commission. Lee confirmed the records and issued a statement on his vote in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary.
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