Image Credit: Anonymous Source & Jennifer Hay
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
Through an anonymous source, The Tennessee Conservative obtained a clip of Rick Scarbrough, who defeated Representative John Ragan in the District 33 Republican primary, wherein Scarbrough appears to both acknowledge and endorse illegal crossover voting during the election period.
The video looks to be a potential voter speaking to Scarbrough with the voter expressing their preference to cast their vote for Scarbrough but seems to think it would cause an issue or he may not be allowed.
The voter says, “If they say anything or give me any… I’m gonna vote for you anyway, so.”
Scarbrough responds, “I mean, that’s the thing, I think. Again, when I voted for the first time in 2012, nobody said anything to me. Now like I’ve told people, they need to vote where they think they need to vote. That’s it, that’s my direction for you.”
He continues, “I think there’ll be a time in the near future, the next few years, that the State Republican Party will shut it down completely unless you’re a registered Republican.”
The voter asks Scarbrough to restate and he clarifies, “I think they’ll shut it down. Unless you’re a registered Republican, in the future, they’re not gonna let you vote in the Republican primary.”
Ragan challenged the primary results with proof of illegal crossover voting, which culminated in a special State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting on Saturday, September 7th.
The meeting was approximately 90 minutes long wherein Ragan and Scarbrough made their cases, a few public comments in support of both candidates were heard, and committee members were offered the opportunity to ask questions or make statements. Ultimately, the committee voted 41-7 to reject the challenge and uphold the initial primary results.
During the meeting, Scarbrough maintained it was his campaign, not crossover votes that won the election while his own attorney admitted there were crossover votes found in the results, though supposedly not enough to bridge Ragan’s margin of loss.
Several SEC members commented on the challenge prior to the September 7th meeting. One believes, “there are Republicans who hedge their bet on crossover voting,” while another stated, “I believe that they think they…cannot win without the votes of some democrats. They want to have their cake and eat it, too.”
Scarbrough’s statements in the video could be considered a corroboration of these SEC members’ opinions.
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 grassroot organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
There’s too much of that. The TN GOP needs to crack down. That guy’s a RINO.
The SEC- state executive committee, that is suppose to oversee the GOP “rules” voted to not challenge the non bonafides that voted in this primary. THEY ARE AS GUILTY and act like Dems. Totally disgusting, and will not change as long as voters are not involved.