Inside Tennessee GOP’s Effort To Oust Trump-Backed Candidate From District 5 Ballot
Image Credit: Exchanges Photos / Public Domain
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Just shortly after Morgan Ortagus received a nod of endorsement from former President Donald Trump, she became the focal point of many local Republicans. That focus quickly turned to an attempt to figure out how to block her candidacy.
Just three months later, state Republican leaders held a secret meeting and voted to oust Ortagus and two other candidates from the August primary election.
Local Republicans claim they are just enforcing their own rules and procedures, but Republicans across the country have criticized the whole ordeal, saying that, while they support the former president, they are not in favor of his attempt to have input in Tennessee’s race.
“I heard this over and over: ‘Well, I’m all for Trump, but he doesn’t need to be telling us who the hell to vote for,” one Tennessee Republican member of the executive committee told NBC news. “This is Tennessee…Don’t tell me what the hell I gotta do.”
Trump has offered his opinion in a number of GOP primaries across the country, but Tennesseans have offered more resistance to his opinions than many other states.
“I’ve seen a growing sense among people, not just in this situation, of wishing Trump would just leave a lot of these races alone,” the committee member told NBC. “They don’t see how that’s benefitting him or the party. Some of the people who feel this way are die-hard pro-Trump people.”
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Luke Elliott, one local Republican activist, said, “We will not be dictated upon by Washington, D.C. The nationalization of our politics is extremely dangerous. You will show us more respect. Let me be very clear: if you move to Nashville, you will follow our rules. Mr. President: I am pulling for you, but we did not ask for the help of your sly agents.”
Republican insiders say the decision to push Ortagus out of the running was not about resistance to Trump but about keeping people from being able to move into the state and immediately run for political office.
Newly passed legislation, now law, requires any congressional candidate to live in the state for three years in order to qualify to be on the primary ballot. According to the secretary of state’s office, this new law would not have an effect on ballots for this year, however,
Instead, the executive committee of the Republican party used its own ruling to remove Ortagus. There was already a requirement in place that required candidates to have voted in at least three of the four previous Republican primaries. This policy has caused dozens of Republican candidates to be removed from primary ballots in recent years.
In a secret meeting in a secure location, committee members went over documentation sent in by each of the three candidates who were being challenged: Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee. In the end, they voted 13-3 to remove Ortagus and Starbuck and 10-6 against Lee.
The member speaking to NBC said, “There were certain people in there [for whom the decision] was cut and dry from the beginning. I’m not sure if they gave everybody – how can I put this – much [of] a fair evaluation. Maybe they were right. Maybe that was so cut and dry that these people didn’t deserve it.”
Ortagus spoke out against the “establishment party insiders” who she believes are responsible for removing her but vowed to “continue to fight for my country and for Tennessee conservative values.”
Starbuck has taken it a step further and is pushing back against the “tiny group of establishment RINO hacks” who are attempting to keep him out. On Monday, he filed a lawsuit against the state and the Tennessee GOP, hoping to find his name back on the ballot.
“I was simultaneously surprised and not surprised because I’ve definitely seen how some party figures have been very cold towards me,” Starbuck stated. “It’s still shocking because I’ve never seen a congressional race where the state party throws out a leading candidate for Congress, let alone two. It’s just crazy. It just seems like crazy town. Why piss off your own voters?”
Tennessee GOP leaders say they expect the court to leave the decision up to the political party in the end.
The Republican primary for the seat currently has nine candidates, one of whom is expected to fill the void that has most recently been held by Democrat Jim Cooper.
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
The GOP executive committee here in Tennessee are not Republicans. They are not even RHINO’s. They are just plain “Good OLD Boys”! Fire them! Vote them out!
There certainly is a mechanism to do just that. my 2 SEC members, one of whom voted to keep them on the ballot, are not good ol boys. If Ms. Ortagus is serious, she will stay here, vote, become active in our state party, raise her children and eventually qualify to run for office. But I suspect she will not want to associate with us good ol boy hicks in the 5th district.
Tennessee Voters elected the Tennessee SEC this August 4 election.
Voting intentionally. Be involved with the GOP locally so that you know your options and if they push for Transparency while serving on the SEC.
We get what we vote for!
Those who show up rule the World and those who Show up at Republican Party run the Republican Party so get involved!
Interesting the way the author framed this story…. Was is more about a candidate getting a nod from Trump OR that she hasn’t lived in the state long enough? It seems the latter but not the headline and first couple of paragraphs… There’s most likely another option here… Mitch McConnell and his band of buddies get to decide where money goes in Republican Super Pacs…. No mention of dollars in this story which always makes me suspicious.
What gives these fools the right to take out anyone. I guess the “Good Old Boys” think their crap don’t stink. They say don’t tell us who to vote for, I say don’t tell us who we can’t vote for.
We should never allow anyone to represent Tennessee other than someone with strong Tennessee roots, no matter who endorses them. This should not be merely a GOP procedural rule, but should be a state law that would apply to any candidate. We don’t need people moving here from another state and then suddenly running for office. We don’t want to open doors for someone to come here from California or DC or New York or anywhere else and claim to represent are state after being here for only a short period of time. No, I’m not for RINOs, but there are many people already here who could just as easily qualify for a Trump endorsement.
Agree…when I first heard these candidates being removed from the ballot, I thought it sounded odd. Until I did little more research into the matter. A candidate is required to live in Tennessee a certain number of years plus show where they have voted in republican primaries. So I had a different opinion when I learned the “why”.
These candidates may have been the best ever, but they need to prove themselves to the people of Tennessee.
3 Candidates were removed from the 5th Congressional race.
The Residency law was just passed this spring and the TN AG said it did not apply to this election because it became law after the qualifying deadline. The law, according to TN Gov, was Not to be applied to this race.
Of the 3 removed, only 1 did not qualify for the 3 yr requirement even if the law was applied to this race. Morgan Ortagus moved here last Feb., so 1 yr.
Baxter Lee was born & raised in TN.
Robby Starbuck has had TN residency for long enough even under the new law (3 years) if it did apply to this race.
The residency law (according to TN AG and Gov Lee) was not supposed to be used for this race and, if it was applied, only 1 candidate did not meet the residency requirement.
Thank you for the facts. This smells like RINO shenanigans to me.
what happen to the BIG TENT? can not will not vote for democrat!!!!!!!!! we should not have to hold our nose to to vote for a republican. the way the republicans act shows we need to back TRUMP every way we can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you