Image Credit: State Representative Todd Warner / Facebook & Antony-22 / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill-District 92) assumed office in November of 2020 and is running for reelection this year.
Throughout his tenure, Warner has been a major proponent of legislation that protects children and parental rights, as well as legislation that aims to deter illegal immigrants from setting up shop in Tennessee.
Warner was distinguished as one of the “Top 5 Freedom Caucus Conservatives” in the House of Representatives by The Tennessee Conservative in both the 2022 RINO Report and the 2024 RINO Report.
Below is a non-exhaustive but detailed look at Rep. Warner’s voting record from the last several years.
In 2021, Warner Took Action By:
• Voting in favor of a nullifying federal Covid-19 restrictions (SJR9005).
• Voting in favor of medical freedom by prohibiting state and local governments from requiring or mandating that private businesses require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for entry or utilization of services (HB0575).
• Voting in favor of pro-life legislation (HB1252).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to protect parental rights in education by requiring that public schools notify parents prior to exposing students to “sexual orientation or gender identity” curriculum (HB0529).
• Co-sponsoring legislation prohibiting local governments or the executive head of a local government from creating categories or classes of “nonessential” and “essential” businesses, trades, professions, etc. for the purposes of suspending lawful commerce, encumbering trade, or denying citizens the right to work (HB0037).
Action Warner Took in 2022:
• Co-sponsoring legislation to protect children in schools (HB2454).
• Co-sponsoring anti-DEI legislation (HB2670).
• Voting in favor of medical freedom and natural immunity to Covid-19 (HB1871).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to make Ivermectin an over-the-counter drug in Tennessee (HB2746).
• Voting against “The Incumbent Protection Bill” (HB1201).
• Voting against corporate welfare via legislation that allowed the Chattanooga Lookouts to retain a sales tax deal to fund a new stadium (HB2609).
• Voting in favor of legislation to protect teachers from being forced to use students’ preferred pronouns (HB2633).
• Co-sponsoring a resolution to make The Holy Bible Tennessee’s official state book (HJR0752).
• Co-sponsoring legislation that would have lowered Tennessee’s concealed carry age from 21 to 18 (HB1735).
Action Warner Took in 2023:
• Co-sponsoring pro-life legislation that prohibited local governments from expending funds to assist a woman in obtaining a criminal abortion (HB0090).
• Voting in favor of protecting children from obscene materials in schools (HB0841).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to protect children from being exposed to drag show performances (HB0009).
• Voting in favor of protecting parental rights by requiring the written consent of a parent or guardian before a healthcare professional can provide a vaccine to a minor (HB1380), as well as before a student may receive gender identity instruction or health services through a coordinated school program (HB0727).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to uphold state sovereignty by limiting foreign ownership of real property in Tennessee (HB0040).
• Voting in favor of government transparency by requiring state and local governments to allow time for public comment at publicly-held meetings (HB0448).
• Voting in favor of banning public schools, colleges and the Department of Education from requiring employees to participate in implicit bias training (HB0158).
• Voting in favor of legislation stating that public school faculty and staff are not required to refer to students by preferred pronouns (HB1269).
• Voting in favor of banning “gender affirming” surgeries for minors in Tennessee (HB0001).
• Voting against global currency in Tennessee (HB0316).
• Calling for the immediate release of the Covenant School shooter’s writings.
• Signing an open letter to Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN), urging him to abandon his plans for the special legislative session that ended up taking place in August of 2023.
Action Warner Took in 2024:
• Co-sponsoring pro-life legislation to criminalize the abortion trafficking of minors (HB1895).
• Co-sponsoring illegal immigration legislation that increases penalties up to life in prison without parole for illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes (HB1872).
• Co-sponsoring legislation that allows individuals who traffic minors across state lines for sex reassignment procedures to face civil penalties by the minor’s parents (HB2310).
• Co-sponsoring legislation that authorizes the death penalty for child rapists (HB1663).
• Voting in favor of school safety measures that don’t infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of Tennesseans by allowing certain faculty and staff members to conceal carry “subject to certain conditions” (HB1202) and requiring public schools to provide students with age-appropriate firearm safety instruction (HB2882).
• Voting in favor of election integrity (HB0835 & HB1955).
• Voting in favor of allowing private schools to adopt their own handgun carry policies (HB1631).
• Voting in favor of the “Laken Riley Act of 2024” which removes the criminal offense of carrying a non-lethal self-defense weapon on college campuses (HB1909).
• Voting to protect children by increasing the penalty for child endangerment by a parent or guardian of a child eight years or younger (HB1817).
• Voting in favor of the “Tennessee Foster and Adoptive Parent Act” which prohibits DCS from requiring potential foster and adoptive parents to support policies concerning sexual orientation or gender identity (HB2169).
• Voting to protect religious exemptions and prohibit DCS from requiring immunizations in order to place children in foster and adoptive homes (HB1726).
• Voting to clarify that a person is not required to “solemnize” a marriage if that person objects due to conscience or religious beliefs (HB0878).
• Voting in favor of banning chemical weather modification (HB2063).
• Voting against what critics deemed to be a “red flag gun law” (HB1625).
• Co-sponsoring legislation that would have banned Pride Flags and other ideological and political flags from public school classrooms (HB1605).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to protect patient and family rights regarding hospital visitation under a declaration of disaster or emergency issued by the state (HB1883).
• Co-sponsoring legislation requiring Tennessee law enforcement to report illegal immigrants in their custody to the federal government (HB2124).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to prevent red flag gun laws by preempting the entire field of legislation regarding extreme risk protection orders or ERPOs (HB2035).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to prohibit credit card companies and banks from requiring firearms retailers to be identified by a separate code or denying a legal firearms purchase based on that code (HB2762).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to prevent government overreach by allowing state legislators to impose nullification in cases of unconstitutional federal overreach (HB2795), as well as by blocking state-level executive order enforcements as Class A misdemeanors (HB1615).
• Co-sponsoring legislation to extend the amount of time sex offenders remain on the Sex Offender Registry from 10 to 15 years (HB1617).
• Sponsoring the “Patient Rights Act” (HB0377) for the second year in a row.
• Sponsoring legislation to make it unfair and deceptive practice under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977 for a financial institution to require a firearms retailer to use firearms-specific transaction codes (HB1784).
• Warner also appeared in The Tennessee Conservative’s 2024 RINO REPORT & FREEDOM CAUCUS AWARDS as a “Conservative Fighter” for sponsoring legislation allowing law enforcement to assign SROs to schools that fail to request one (HB1664)…
…And for sponsoring legislation to protect Tennesseans from government overreach via intelligence investigations by the Biden Administration’s DOJ (HB2912).
The Tennessee Legislative Report Card gave Warner a voting score of 93 for the 2024 legislative session, a lifetime voting score of 94, and an A+ grade in leadership. According to the report, only 23.64% of his campaign contributions come from special interests.
The Tennessee Conservative previously endorsed Warner when he ran for reelection back in 2022 and has also received TTC’s endorsement for reelection this year.
Warner does not have any GOP challengers in the upcoming primary election and only one Democrat challenger in the general election.
EARLY VOTING: JULY 12-27 2024 ELECTION DAY: AUGUST 1, 2024
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
