Image Credit: Senator Richard Briggs / Facebook & Antony-22 / CC
Tennessee Conservative News [By Olivia Lupia] –
Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville-District 7), who has been in his position since 2014, is running for reelection and will appear on the August 6, 2026, primary ballot.
Calling himself a lawmaker who “has supported conservative values in the Tennessee Legislature”, primary voters may be interested in a closer look at his voting record to see if this claim really matches his actions.
Briggs has been recognized as one of the Senate’s Top 5 RINOs in every edition of The Tennessee Conservative’s RINO Report 2022-2025. Some highlights that helped land him this distinction include:
2022
Sponsored Legislation To Sneak Vaccinations Without Parental Consent: SB0148 was a sneaky caption bill which would have allowed certain vaccinations, including ones for STDs, to be given to minors without parental knowledge or consent. The bill was ultimately taken off notice by the House sponsor after immense constituent backlash.
Voted Against Preventing Modern-Day Racism: SB2290 prohibits institutions of higher education from requiring that students or employees embrace divisive teachings as a stipulation for any grade, diploma, employment opportunity, or tenure. Briggs was the only Republican to vote against the legislation which became law.
Voted Against Making Ivermectin OTC in Tennessee: SB2188 simply authorizes pharmacists to provide ivermectin to any patient over 18 years old as an over-the-counter drug. Briggs was one of three Republicans who joined Democrats in voting “No”.
2023
Refused To Vote On Legislation Protecting Children From Obscene Materials: SB1059 eliminated an exception for obscene materials for educational purposes by making it illegal to possess obscene material on school property. It also created a Class E felony for book publishers, distributors, or sellers to knowingly distribute obscene matter to a public school. Briggs declined to cast a vote, making him the only Republican not to vote in favor of the bill.
Sponsored Legislation Originally Intended To Censor News Outlets & Advocacy Groups: Briggs was the primary Senate sponsor for SB1060 which sought to redefine a Political Action Committee (PAC) in such a way that certain news outlets, advocacy groups, companies, or even individuals could have been forced into converting into PACs and subjected to campaign finance regulations and oversights. After massive conservative pushback it was heavily amended and all controversial language was removed.
Killed Legislation To Restore Tennessee State Sovereignty: Briggs, along with five other Republicans, refused to second a motion for SB1092 to be heard in committee, allowing the legislation to die on the spot. The bill would have established a process for the General Assembly to nullify any unconstitutional actions by the federal government. Janice. Bowling, the Senate sponsor, has run this piece of legislation for several consecutive years, and RINOs have killed each iteration in committee.
Voted Against Requiring Parental Consent For Vaccinations: SB1111, titled the “Mature Minor Doctrine Clarification Act”, requires written consent from parents or legal guardians before a healthcare provider can give a vaccination to a minor. Briggs joined all Democrats in voting against the measure.
2024
Again Killed State Sovereignty Legislation: SB2775 was Sen. Bowling’s 3rd attempt to enact the “Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act”, but it was sent to summer study by Briggs and three other Republicans, effectively killing it.
2025
Sponsored Legislation Approving Development Projects Without Public Input: SB0137 would have required local legislative bodies to greenlight development projects without public comment so long as the zoning regulations or maps were previously available for public comment or review. In direct contradiction to Tennessee’s Open Meeting Act, the bill was ultimately pulled in both chambers.
Passed On Legislation Expanding Citizen Input At Public Meetings: SB0178 sought to expand First Amendment Rights of Tennesseans who wished to speak at public meetings, allowing them to speak on any topic so long as the matter is “germane to the jurisdiction of the governing body”. Briggs and four other Senators marked themselves “Present Not Voting”, leaving the bill stuck on a tie vote in committee though it did eventually pass during the 2026 legislative session.
Sponsored Legislation Funding Weaponization Of Government Entities Against Conservative Candidates: SB0229 funneled more money to the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, which has a track record of targeting conservative groups and candidates, and allows it to skip audits or investigations and proceed straight to show cause hearings. All Senate Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
Killed Legislation To Close Primary Elections: No member of the Senate State & Local Government Committee, including Briggs, would second the motion to hear SB0777 which required party affiliation and would have acted as an enforcement mechanism to help prevent illegal crossover voting.
Voted Against Prohibiting Out-Of-State PACs From Influencing Primary Elections: SB1040 sought to prevent PACs headquartered in other states from making contributions, especially in-kind, to candidates in Tennessee Republican primary elections. The bill was killed 7-0 in committee.
Voted Against Allowing Disenrollment Of Illegal Alien Students: SB0836 authorized LEAs and public charter schools to refuse to enroll students illegally present in the U.S. Briggs was one of several Republicans to join Democrats in voting against.
Voted In Favor Of Shielding Pesticide Makers: SB0527 would have limited liability for pesticide manufacturers in some cases involving consumer injury. Briggs voted in favor of this highly controversial legislation, helping to pass it in the Senate, though it was deferred in the House to 2026 and ultimately taken off notice.
2026
During this year’s legislative session, Briggs continued to support or sponsor bills that conflicted with conservative values and helped quash conservative bills:
Voted Against State Sovereignty Legislation: SB2657 marked the 5th attempt by Sen. Bowling to create a process for the state to use its 10th Amendment authority to nullify any unconstitutional federal statutes, regulations, or orders. Briggs and five other Republican Senators voted against the bill.
Voted Against Requiring Verification Of Legal Work Authorization: SB0990 lowers from six to one the number of employees a business must have to be considered a private employer for the purposes of the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act, thereby ensuring all Tennessee employers will be required to verify the legal status of employees and prevent illegal aliens from entering the workforce. Briggs joined several other Republicans in voting “No”, but the legislation still passed and is now state law.
Voted Against Homeschool Freedoms: SB2636 gives homeschool families additional options for mandated standardized testing and removes a part of Tennessee code which has never been used regarding remediation for homeschool students based on low testing scores that potentially could have forced homeschoolers back into public schools. Briggs joined another Republican and all Democrats to vote against these educational freedoms which became law.
Voted Against Parental Rights In Children’s Healthcare: Briggs joined two other Republicans and all Democrats to vote “No” on SB0259, which ensures parents can access their child’s health treatment records including those for mental health, medical treatments, rehabilitation, prescription records, or for treatments provided to the child without parental consent.
Voted Against Preventing Government Overreach: Seeking to prohibit state government from declaring any citizen “non-essential” in times of emergency, SB1048 was slaughtered 8-1 by members of the Senate State & Local Government Committee, which is chaired by Briggs. Only one Republican voted “Yes” to preventing future government overreach like that experienced during 2020 when businesses were forced to close.
Passed On “Charlie Kirk Day”: SB1943 would have designated September 10 annually as “Charlie Kirk Day” in honor of the conservative activist’s martyrdom. Briggs and Republican Todd Gardenhire chose to mark themselves “Present Not Voting” instead of taking a firm position, causing the legislation to die 4-3 in committee.
Along with his voting record, Briggs consistently works to undermine or dismantle protections for the unborn established in Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act, including sponsoring legislation to add exceptions to allow for more abortions. He even appeared as a featured speaker at an event sponsored by Planned Parenthood to teach women how to find loopholes or work around in the state’s abortion laws.
Additionally, he co-sponsored controversial legislation in 2025 called the “Fertility and Contraceptive Protection Act” which established a “right” to assisted reproductive technologies and emergency contraception. While framed as a reproductive healthcare protection measure, the bill was deemed dangerous by conservatives and pro-life advocacy groups for its disregard of both the state and scientific definitions of “unborn child”.
The bill essentially codified the ability to indiscriminately create and discard human embryos through fertility treatments and technologies like IVF and was supported by both Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Several conservative lawmakers asked Gov. Lee to veto the legislation and send it back for revision, but to no avail.
And for 2025, the Tennessee Legislative Report Card gave Briggs a vote score of 58 with an F for leadership grade. It also shows that over 60% of his campaign contributions since 2013 have come from special interest groups. View the full report, HERE.
But District 7 voters will have a choice in their Republicans this August as Briggs does have a conservative challenger.
Kent Morrell currently serves on the Republican State Executive Committee (District 7), is an advocate for parental rights and medical freedom, and believes in limiting the role of government, reducing the influence of special interest lobbyists, and “restoring liberty to the people of Tennessee.”
To find out more, visit his official campaign website: https://www.sendkent.com/. Early voting begins July 17.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
6 Responses
The most valuable service the Tennessee Conservative News can perform for its readers in the weeks before the Republican primary is to highlight the centrist/tepid conservative officeholders up for renomination that have disappointed conservatives time after time. Thank-you Olivia and the Tennessee Conservative News.
What will it take to primary this RINO clown once and for all? Actually, RINO is too nice a term for this obvious DEM in sheep’s clothing!
As we can all see from our representatives in Washington and our State Reps. there is No Difference between either party. They both are voting against the American people, they are two wings of the same bird and serve the same Masters. The two party system is a farce designed to Divide and Conquer, if we are fighting among ourselves, we aren’t paying attention to what they are doing behind the scenes.
I thank the Tennessee Conservative for putting their voting records out there for the public to see, by their fruits you will know them and the fruit coming from Briggs is rotten to the core.
So true, ChristIsKing. So many people believe that both parties are different. One big club that looks out for themselves and their Lobbyists buddies.
Thanx for illuminating lucifer’s accursed RINO’s voting record.
He’s an enemy of TN, WAAY worse’n useless.
Briggs didn’t live in the district when he ran for office against Stacey Campfield. It was public knowledge. The TNGOP allowed it anyway. After his fraudulent election, the TNGOP gerrymandered his district to encapsulate the lake house where he really lived. He is one of the Pfizer whores that signed the letter urging Tennesseans to take the deathvax (including many of the other RINOs mentioned in the article).
https://wpln.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/07/Letter-urging-vaccines-v1-7-27-21.pdf
It disgusts me to be forced to fund the primaries for this corrupt party and have to pledge some kind of allegiance to vote in the primaries that are not required by the constitution but we all are taxed to fund. Private political party corporate welfare.