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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
Hamilton County Democrat voters publicly admitted to pulling Republican primary ballots in the August 2024 primary to select a more “moderate” Republican candidate in case the Democrat should lose in the November general election.
Incumbent Patsy Hazelwood (R-District 27) lost to grassroots conservative Michele Reneau in the August primary as conservative voters tired of Hazelwood’s poor voting record, misrepresentations, and moderate stances on the issues.
Reneau will now face Democrat Kathy Lennon, who ran unopposed in the primary, in November’s general election.
But Democrat voters have been caught trying to tip the scales.
In a Reddit post from August, a Hamilton County Democrat voter posted a screenshot of live primary election night results and asked if they should have requested a Democrat ballot instead of a Republican one in order to boost Lennon’s numbers.
The voter states in no uncertain terms, “I’m a straight ticket Democrat but pull Republican primary ballots because I believe it offers me the most voice in my representation,” in essence confessing to illegal voter fraud.
Many in the comment section of the post not only affirm the voter’s action but admit to also voting in Republican primaries in an attempt to neutralize more conservative candidates.
One commenter says, “I always vote in the Republican primary in the hope of getting the lesser of two evils.”
Another states, “I think voting in Republican primaries is a good thing, when there’s only one person running in the Dem primary.”
Another said, “Patsy was about as moderate as that district can support, in my opinion. For Kathy to win, a lot of R’s will have to cross over.”
In a tight race like Reneau’s, where the margin of victory was only 137 votes, these illegal crossover Democrat votes could have easily determined the outcome of the election, virtually disenfranchising every Republican who cast a vote and allowing a primary election to be rigged.
Illegal crossover voting has become somewhat of a hot-button issue of late as the Republican State Executive Committee recently examined a primary election challenge involving proof of illegal Democrat crossover votes.
Many place the blame for this issue at the feet of the state legislature, and cries for closed primaries are gaining traction around the state.
Legislators will once again have the opportunity to address this malfunction of the election process during the upcoming legislative session should they wish.
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.
3 Responses
Yet, the GOP lawmakers in TN will continue to promote open primaries. It keeps the RINO’s in office and Conservatives out of office.
The “illegality” is this seems pretty hazy to me. Isn’t it really up to the respective parties to have their own rules? Hanere in West Virginia, the Democratic Party prohibits Republicans from casting votes for Democratic candidates, while the GOP allowed Democrats to cast their votes for Republican candidates …. UNTIL RECENTLY.
Called my RINO Sen. John Stevens and Rep. Jay Reedy to CLOSE primaries.
Everybody SHOULD do same.