Constitutional Republicans Sweep Sumner County Races Changing The Face Of Local Politics

Image: Sumner County Courthouse in Gallatin, TN Image Credit: Jimmy Emerson, DVM / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

The Sumner County Constitutional Republicans (SCCRTN) group endorsed 20 individuals for the County Commission and four individuals for the School Board in the August elections.  Over 80% of their endorsees won.

In an interview with the Nashville Tea Party’s founder, Ben Cunningham, the chairman of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans, Kurt Riley, said “Technically, 18 of them won, one of them is still in limbo.  The District 13 race ended up in a dead even tie between a Democrat and a Republican.  The commission will address that in the next couple of weeks.”

According to Cunningham, prior to the election, the Commission had passed two tax increases and consistently acted in favor of developers and corporate interests instead of the citizens of the county.  In addition, transparency that the citizenry was calling for was severely lacking.  

With the newly elected commissioners, the SCCRTN endorsees will have a majority on the county commission with the total number on the commission being 24.

Cunningham said, “The message should be clear to everybody just from how this election turned out.  That ought to send a message to everybody on the commission about what people in Sumner County want.”

Riley said, “For so many years, many of us wrote emails and pounded on the podium and called people and tried to get these representatives to execute the will of the people.  But it was clear, they weren’t there to execute the will of the people, they were there to execute the will of the special interests.  I think people over the years saw that over and over and they were just sick of it.”

Riley said that their endorsees were fielded to be for the people and willing to work for the people and not the special interests.  Many of the candidates also had platforms against raising taxes and against cronyism.

The SCCRTN-endorsed candidate that won in District 14 was a write-in candidate that won two-to-one over the incumbent commissioner.

“Not only did we win, we won huge.  This was really historic,” Riley said.

According to Cunningham,  a write-in candidate has never won before in Sumner County.

For the Sumner County school board, the SCCRTN endorsed 4 candidates in the five races and three of those individuals won.  Of the four, only the endorsed candidate that ran as a write-in lost.

“We’re north of 80% in these races, which is huge.  This is the third time we’ve been successful with 80% of our candidates winning,” Riley said, “So, three times in a row, I feel like we’re on to something.  I’ve always felt like the ingredients for Constitutional Conservative Republicanism is overwhelming here in Sumner County.”

Riley stated that all it takes to make a change is to organize and get citizens focused on a goal.

“The vast majority of these citizens here believe and want what we want,” Riley said.

The Sumner County Constitutional Republicans’ platform is as follows:

• Christian Foundation – Our beliefs are derived from the bible.   We pray at every meeting and we seek God in all we do!  His wisdom guides our decisions.

• Limited Government – We want the least amount of government possible.  We believe in self governance.   Government shouldn’t be growing bigger and bigger and further burdening us with more rules and more debt.  

• Free Speech and the Right to Bear Arms – We are tired of the liberal cancel culture.  The 1st amendment was established first for a reason.  It’s the most important.  The second amendment is there to protect the first.  We don’t plan on allowing liberals to take away either.

• Grassroots Involvement – The Republic won’t save itself.  It takes action.

• Much More – We believe in the Republican party platform.

The Republican Party platform, as outlined by the Republican National Committee is stated as follows:

Initially united in 1854 by the promise to abolish slavery, the Republican Party has always stood for freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Today, as those principles come under attack from the far-left, we are engaged in a national effort to fight for our proven agenda, take our message to every American, grow the party, promote election integrity, and elect Republicans up and down the ballot. The principles of the Republican Party recognize the God-given liberties while promoting opportunity for every American.

Republican Party Platform:

Republicans believe in liberty, economic prosperity, preserving American values and traditions, and restoring the American dream for every citizen of this great nation. As a party, we support policies that seek to achieve those goals. 

Our platform is centered on stimulating economic growth for all Americans, protecting constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, ensuring the integrity of our elections, and maintaining our national security. We are working to preserve America’s greatness for our children and grandchildren.

The Republican Party’s legacy — we were originally founded in 1854 for the purpose of ending slavery — compels us to patriotically defend America’s values. As the left attempts to destroy what makes America great, the Republican Party is standing in the breach to defend our nation and way of life.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com