Image: “The Bill Dies For Lack Of Second.” – Chairman Richard Briggs sounds the gavel on SB0777. Image Credit: TN General Assembly & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A bill that could have closed primary elections in Tennessee failed “for lack of a second” in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday.
Right now, it is illegal to vote in a party primary in Tennessee if you are not a Bonafide member of that party and you do not intend to affiliate with that party in the future.
Still, current state law does not contain an enforcement mechanism or process for which this illegal action is actually prevented.
Senate Bill 777 (SB0777), sponsored by Sen. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun-District 1), would have required a 90-day written notice for Tennessee voters to change their party affiliation among other things.
The corresponding House Bill 0886 (HB0886), sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County-District 73), was placed “behind the budget” last week despite the most recent fiscal note showing “no significant fiscal impact.”
However, if the bill received enough votes in Senate Committee, it could have continued to advance in the legislature.
This legislation had quite a bit of support in the House, with a lengthy co-sponsor list including Republican Representatives Rusty Grills, Dennis Powers, Jason Zachary, Jerome Moon, Elaine Davis, Gino Bulso, Susan Lynn, Todd Warner, Jody Barrett, Lee Reeves, Jeff Burkhart, Charlie Baum, Rush Bricken, Pat Marsh, Brock Martin, Tim Hicks, Debra Moody, Kip Capley, Timothy Hill, Aron Maberry, Monty Fritts, Jay Reedy, Ed Butler, Bryan Terry, Kelly Keisling, Renea Jones, Chris Hurt, Andrew Farmer, Michele Reneau, Scott Cepicky, Sabi “Doc” Kumar, Clay Doggett, Rick Scarbrough, and Tim Rudd.
The Senate version was co-sponsored by Republican Senators Joey Hensley and Jack Johnson.
During Tuesday’s meeting of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, Sen. Lowe moved for SB0777 to be heard by the committee but no other committee member seconded that motion.
In order for a piece of legislation to be discussed in committee, a member must make a motion for it to be heard and another member must second that motion.
If a bill does not receive both a motion and a second, it fails “for lack of a second” without any further discussion.
This is what happened to SB0777.
Republican Senators Richard Briggs, Page Walley, Tom Hatcher, Todd Gardenhire and Ed Jackson, as well as Democrat Senators Sara Kyle and Jeff Yarbro, were all present and could have seconded the motion but chose not to.
The Republican Senators who chose not to second the motion to hear SB0777 can be reached with the following info: Sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov, sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov, sen.tom.hatcher@capitol.tn.gov, sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov, sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov
When asked by one of his constituents to vote YES on SB0777 prior to yesterday’s meeting, Chairman Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville-District 7) responded, “There are no primary elections in November. In general November elections, voters can vote for anyone. Frankly, I’m glad many Democrats crossed over and voted for Republican candidates.“
The Tennessee Conservative asked one of the House bill co-sponsors, Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61) what he thought about the failure of the bill, he said, “I’m disappointed to hear that Chris Todd’s closed primary bill, which I was primary co-sponsor of, died today in Senate State and Local Government Committee. We’ve got a problem, across the entire state with Democrats crossing over and voting in our Republican primaries, typically with the goal to elect more moderate Republicans and try to deprive the state of a good conservative base of legislators in the General Assembly.”
CLICK HERE to watch Rep. Bulso’s full reaction and several other lawmakers sharing their opinion on closed primaries.
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. Adelia is The Tennessee Conservative’s on-site reporter for the Tennessee General Assembly. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Thanx. Emailed them, “You RINOs are disgusting, likely even evil.
If TNGOP was any good whatsoever y’all wouldn’t be allowed to run as Republicans.
Republicans wanting/needing dimmercrap votes are TRASH!!”, posted to X with, “I emailed them, You RINOs are disgusting, likely even evil.
If TNGOP was any good whatsoever y’all wouldn’t be allowed to run as Republicans.
Republicans wanting/needing dimmercrap votes are TRASH!!”
I encourage you to do likewise.”