State lawmakers and big tech are pushing back against misinformation surrounding data centers. Once welcomed for their local economic benefits, they say these facilities now face resistance due to fear and disinformation over water and electricity consumption, complicated by a global AI race against China.
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Federal financial disclosure filings submitted by U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) appear inconsistent, with his 2024 annual report listing between $250,001 and $500,000 in Alphabet Class A stock on December 31, and a transaction report filed last year stating he sold between $1 million and $5 million of the same stock from the same brokerage account on June 3, 2025. Alphabet is the parent company of Google.
Two more items on the June 2025 report appear to indicate Rose sold between $1 million and $2 million worth of shares of the American Funds SMALLCAP World Fund Class A mutual fund, while his 2024 annual disclosure showed he held between $500,001 and $1 million worth of shares in the fund.
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World-renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer, a Tennessee resident and one of the country’s most influential advocates of supply-side economics, has endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) campaign for governor, praising her long-standing commitment to lower taxes and pro-growth economic policies.
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The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) has endorsed State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) for reelection to the Tennessee State Senate.
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When campaigning for his first term in Congress, U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) publicly supported former Governor Bill Haslam’s Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads, and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy Act (IMPROVE) of 2017, which saw Tennessee gas taxes increase six cents over three years.
Rose stated his public position on the gas tax hike during a Smith County event in August 2017, when he told Haslam, “I just want to say I applaud you for making this proposal. I fully support it.”
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New polling released to The Tennessee Star on Friday shows U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) with a 17-point lead in the Republican Party gubernatorial primary in Tennessee with less than one week until voters head to the polls.
The internal poll by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates found Blackburn polling at 42 percent, with U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) and State Representative Monty Fritts “distantly behind,” respectively polling at 25 percent and 22 percent.
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In an exclusive interview, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said she will continue pushing to keep the U.S. Senate in session through its August recess to advance the SAVE Act while also reaffirming her commitment to work with Tennessee lawmakers to close the state’s primary elections if elected governor.
During a Friday appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Blackburn discussed efforts to pass the SAVE America Act in Congress and expanded on her recently announced support for requiring Tennessee voters to register with a political party in order to vote in that party’s primary election.
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Legislation submitted in the U.S. House by Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) would effectively ban the controversial license plate reader (LPR) cameras released by Flock Safety, the company reportedly said in a statement on Friday.
Submitted last week, Burchett’s House Bill (HR) 9800 would prohibit federal agencies from purchasing, operating, accessing Flock cameras, or contracting with Flock Safety, for products including LPR cameras, facial recognition technology, or that which captures data for “persistent or mass surveillance.”
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Two companies in Tennessee have announced expansion plans this week that will create hundreds of new jobs for state residents.
Medacta, a Switzerland-based company, will move its American headquarters from Franklin to Spring Hill. At its new location, the company will open its American manufacturing hub.
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Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party and the Tennessee Tax Revolt, and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy questioned U.S. Representative John Rose’s (R-TN-06) recent claim that he participated in the grassroots movement that defeated a proposed state income tax in 2002, following a report by The Star that found the photograph Rose shared as evidence was taken at a 2004 reunion event rather than during the protests.
During Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy and Cunningham discussed the four-year campaign against former Governor Don Sundquist’s proposed income tax, with Cunningham describing the public pressure campaign as the deciding factor in defeating the measure.
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Music legend Kid Rock endorsed State Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.
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For the most part, I’ve been open about supporting Marsha Blackburn and have intentionally avoided criticizing the other candidates. But after this week, I can’t stay silent any longer.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has pledged to support legislation requiring Tennessee voters to register with a political party in order to participate in that party’s primary elections if elected governor.
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The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition (ITC) PAC this week announced it would spend $700,000 in new advertisements to unseat U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), who received endorsements from Turning Point USA and President Donald Trump, amid polling they claim shows him narrowly leading his primary challenger, former Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Hatcher.
According to primary results shared in a press release by ITC PAC, a recent survey found Ogles leading at just 36.9 percent, with Hatcher narrowly trailing at 32.7 percent, and 30.3 percent of voters still undecided after early voting began.
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Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline said former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci could have been compelled to testify before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee if the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had approved granting him “use immunity,” arguing the legal mechanism would have prevented Fauci from invoking his Fifth Amendment rights during Wednesday’s hearing.
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U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-05) on Wednesday claimed he participated in the Tennessee Tax Revolt that paralyzed the Tennessee General Assembly as it considered enacting a statewide income tax in 2002, but The Tennessee Star has confirmed the photo Rose uploaded to social media was taken at a 2004 reunion event.
In a portion of a social media post extolling his conservative credentials, Rose wrote Wednesday to X, “This red truck is what my friend John and I drove around the State Capitol during the income tax debates. The locomotive horn on the back was so loud, it shook the glass inside the Capitol!”
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Tea Party Nation founder and former prosecutor Judson Phillips said U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) could pursue additional legal action against former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci after Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk “reactivated” his super PAC, America PAC, for a substantial investment aimed at boosting Republican voter turnout in the November 2026 midterm elections
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Author and retired college professor Dr. Carol Swain endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) bid for governor this week, while criticizing U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) campaign tactics and questioning whether State Rep. Monty Fritts’ (R-Kingston) policy proposals are constitutional.
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Two Tennessee cities ranked among the 10 least safe large cities in the United States in a new study released Monday by financial technology company SmartAsset, with Memphis finishing last overall and Nashville also appearing near the bottom of the rankings.
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A new congressional bill seeks to prevent biological males from joining an organization dedicated to the American Revolution.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act, which would amend the Daughters of the American Revolution’s federal charter to ensure only biological females can become members.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Tuesday that Tennessee ranked among five states selected as potential homes for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, which the agency said are part of a federal “effort to strengthen and modernize the nation’s full nuclear fuel cycle.”
According to the Tuesday press release, a total of 28 applications were submitted from 28 states, and Tennessee was selected as a “potential host” along with Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Utah. The federal agency reported that each state’s governor has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the DOE.
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Author and retired college professor Dr. Carol Swain and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy weighed in Wednesday on former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci’s decision to repeatedly invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during a U.S. Senate hearing led by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), arguing the testimony raised additional questions about Fauci’s conduct during the pandemic.
Fauci, who was pardoned by former President Joe Biden on his final day in office, declined to answer questions before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination after stating he believed Paul was attempting to entrap him in a “perjury trap.”
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Following the Shelby County Commission’s decision to borrow more than $100 million to meet its payroll expenses, State House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) questioned whether Memphis voters were “tired of being blue” in a social media post.
“This is what happens when liberals are in charge: higher taxes, more debt, and budgets so poorly managed they have to borrow money just to make payroll,” Sexton wrote in a post to social media.
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The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Tuesday endorsed State Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.
In a post on X, CPAC announced, “CPAC is proud to endorse Johnny Garrett for Congress. He is a proven conservative who delivered real wins in Nashville and will do the same in Washington. Early voting ends August 1st, so get out and vote in the August 6 primary!”
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday joined more than a dozen of her colleagues who have argued the Senate should remain in session, skipping its normal summer recess, in order to pass the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
Blackburn made the comments during an appearance on Newsmax TV after being asked whether President Donald Trump was driving a wedge between Republican voters and the Senate by repeatedly calling for the passage of the election integrity legislation.
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Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said a new bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) and U.S. Representative Brandon Gill (R-TX-26) could provide Republicans with a new legal avenue to restrict birthright citizenship despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order on the issue.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Trump v. Barbara that Trump’s executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country violated the 14th Amendment.
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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has endorsed former U.S. Representative Van Hilleary in the upcoming August 6 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) gubernatorial campaign has still not answered key questions from The Star about Rose’s past donations to Tennessee Democrats who supported a state income tax or his participation in Democratic primary elections, arguing that the campaign has characterized the outlet’s reporting as a “political attack” rather than disputing its factual findings.
During Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed the campaign’s response to The Star’s reporting documenting Rose’s donations to Democrats who backed a state income tax between 1998 and 2002, as well as records showing Rose voted in three Democratic primary elections, including Tennessee’s 2004 Democratic presidential primary.
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Author and conservative commentator Eric Metaxas said he wrote his latest bestselling book, Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World, to give Americans a comprehensive account of the nation’s founding, arguing that understanding the American Revolution is essential rather than optional.
Metaxas made the remarks during an exclusive sit-down interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy at Landmark Booksellers in downtown Franklin.
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An attorney representing U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday sent a legal demand letter to two political consultants affiliated with the American Exceptionalism Institute AEI, which recently released an advertisement that accused her of engaging in public corruption to flood the country with opiates.
Addressed to Wayne Ducote and Joel Riter, the letter accuses the American Exceptionalism Institute of sponsoring an advertisement containing “knowingly false and defamatory accusations of bribery and criminal corruption.”
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U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson on Tuesday consolidated four lawsuits filed over the Freedom, Access, and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act, unifying claims made by nearly 60 plaintiffs over Tennessee’s prohibition on vertical integration of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies.
Richardson, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that four lawsuits designed to reverse Tennessee’s new law “have common questions of law and fact,” meaning their “consolidation would promote the economy and convenience of the Court and of the parties.”
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Andy Biggs, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, said he wants to eliminate the state’s personal income tax “incrementally.”
If Arizona were to fully remove its personal income tax, it would be the 10th state in America without an income tax, joining Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
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Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, said U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) past campaign contributions to Tennessee Democrats who backed a state income tax are significant because they came during what he described as one of the most consequential policy battles in the state’s history.
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Radio host Dan Mandis said Monday he will not vote for congressional candidate Van Hilleary in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District after the campaign released an attack advertisement featuring AI-generated imagery depicting State Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in fabricated scenes.
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Personal finance expert and Tennessean Dave Ramsey endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) campaign for governor, backing the Republican candidate while highlighting their decades-long friendship and shared history fighting to keep a state income tax out of the Volunteer State.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said his investigation into U.S. Rep. John Rose’s (R-TN-06) past political activity began after the candidate publicly denied claims that he had donated to Democrats and voted in Democratic primaries, telling listeners that campaign finance and election records ultimately confirmed both.
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Eric Metaxas, author and conservative radio host, sat down for an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy at Landmark Booksellers to discuss his latest book, Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World.
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U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) and his gubernatorial campaign did not respond to a Monday inquiry from The Tennessee Star asking which Democratic presidential candidate received a vote from Rose during the 2004 Democratic primary in Tennessee, which was one of three nominating contests where Rose returned a Democratic ballot.
While the Rose campaign told The Star on Monday that its reporting about his donations to Democrats who supported a state income tax, and his participation in three Democratic Party primary contests during the early 2000s, was a political attack, Rose and his campaign did not respond to a follow-up inquiry seeking information about how he voted during his participation in the Tennessee Democrats’ presidential primary in 2004.
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State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) on Monday said the Tennessee General Assembly will consider legislation to regulate license plate reader (LPR) cameras, including those produced by Flock Safety, after Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs urged county commissioners to temporarily ban the devices, citing the lack of state or federal regulations and guidelines.
Jacobs expressed his concerns about the Flock cameras, which critics say could allow mass surveillance assisted by artificial intelligence (AI), despite the Knox County Commission previously approving an agreement to add the company’s product to the LPR technologies already deployed in the county.
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The Association of American Educators and Professional Educators of Tennessee formed a collaboration seeking to help support state educators.
The two organizations announced an affiliated partnership on Monday seeking to give Tennessee educators access to increased educator protections, stronger advocacy, and amplified professional learning services.
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Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said her longstanding relationships with members of the Tennessee General Assembly would allow her to work effectively with lawmakers while also pledging to launch a “Tennessee DOGE” initiative aimed at identifying waste, fraud, and government bloat if elected.
During an exclusive sitdown interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, Blackburn emphasized that her ability to work with legislators across the state is built on years of collaboration and would be a key asset if she becomes governor.
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Campaign finance records reviewed by The Tennessee Star reveal U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) donated to multiple Tennessee Democrats who were in favor of establishing a state income tax during the pivotal political fight that culminated in Tennessee passing a constitutional amendment banning the income tax in 2014.
Rose donated at least $19,000 to Democrats between 1998 and 2010, with several of those Democrats involved in the 2002 effort to pass a state income tax in Tennessee.
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Flock Safety’s decision to launch a nationwide audit of its license plate reader camera installations came after a Tennessee highway safety advocate identified what the company acknowledged were legitimate safety concerns with some of its equipment, according to The Tennessee Star’s Lead Reporter Tom Pappert.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told The Tennessee Star on Friday that it filed an immigration detainer against Ulises Raigoza-Martinez after the illegal alien from Mexico pleaded guilty on Wednesday to his role in the killing of a Nashville restaurant owner in 2024.
Davidson County court records reveal Raigoza-Martinez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two theft charges, and one evidence tampering count, after he and an associate were accused of killing Smokin Thighs owner Matthew Carney.
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Conservative commentator and viral Trump impressionist Shawn Farash is joining Dan Bongino’s Silverloch network as the host of a new weekday program, Shawn Farash Live, expanding the company’s slate of original programming.
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EJ Haust, a self-described political refugee from Minnesota and official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, criticized MyPillow Founder Mike Lindell’s newly unveiled immigration proposal, arguing the Republican gubernatorial candidate is embracing a form of amnesty in an unsuccessful attempt to appeal to Democrats.
Haust, who lived in Minnesota for 12 years before relocating to Tennessee following the COVID-19 pandemic, suggested Lindell’s proposal reflects a broader problem within Minnesota Republican politics.
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Gov. Bill Lee signed on to President Donald Trump’s pledge to make sure ratepayers are not paying for data centers. On Thursday, the Republican Governors Association announced Lee and 23 other governors signed on to the pledge. “Republican governors across the country understand the AI boom should cut your power bill, not spike it,” the association said on social media. “That’s why they’re backing President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection pledge, making sure American families come first.” The pledge says AI companies will “build, bring, or buy all of the energy needed for building and operating data centers, paying the full cost of their energy and infrastructure, no matter what.” “As part of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, companies agree to protect American consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements, and lower electricity costs for consumers in the long term, including by,” the pledge adds. No Democratic governor has signed on to Trump’s pledge. In addition to the Republican governors, the White House announced that over 200 data center-related companies have signed his pledge to ensure data centers will not raise electricity prices for ratepayers. The White House said the companies that have signed onto the pledge cover…
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Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline said the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into New Jersey’s registration of roughly 6,600 noncitizens to vote should expand well beyond the Garden State, arguing the case exposes broader vulnerabilities in the nation’s election system.
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OutKick founder Clay Travis revealed the candidates he supported after casting his ballot during Tennessee’s early voting period for the August 6 Republican primary elections, publicly backing U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for governor, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) for reelection, and State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.
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