Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov & canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Out-of-state groups are spending millions to unseat two of Tennessee’s most conservative elected officials – Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains-District 8) and Representative Bryan Richey (R-Maryville-District 20), who is a candidate for Tennessee Senate District 2.
One organization, Club For Growth, is gunning in particular for Niceley and Richey and the group’s political action committee (PAC) – the School Freedom Fund – has earmarked $3.6 million in the legislative races in Tennessee with the aim of supporting candidates who staunchly favor school vouchers for private schools, also a top priority of Governor Bill Lee.
Earlier this year, the PAC spent millions on state races in Texas where it targeted fourteen candidates that opposed state funding for vouchers. Ten of the candidates lost their races.
Niceley has said that the PAC’s ads calling him a liberal are lies and believes he is being targeted by school choice supporter and billionaire Jeff Yass who has a significant stake – worth $21 billion – in ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
Yass has donated the most money in 2024 to outside spending groups, more than $46 million, with $16 million going to Club for Growth.
ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, has a diverse portfolio, including the acquisition and development of educational apps and platforms. Quietly operating one of the most popular educational apps on the market – AI-powered Gauth, a homework aid – Bytedance has already made inroads into education in American schools with millions of downloads. The app assists students with a variety of subjects including math and science.
While ByteDance’s educational investments include K-12, higher education, competency-based education, and vocational education, the company invests the most heavily in K-12.
Niceley, who is cautious about supporting vouchers believing it will raise taxes, says this is the first time he has had out-of-state groups attack him.
Referring to Memphis and Nashville where a voucher program has already been implemented, Niceley said, “Let’s wait and see if these things are gonna work.” A Representative for 12 years and a Senator for 12 years, Niceley has never voted for a tax increase.
The President of Club for Growth, David McIntosh, who wants to replicate their results in Texas, says that the group is “very driven by the principles that we care about” which include limited government, free markets, and school choice. However, vouchers for private schools are essentially an entitlement program as parents are not being refunded their tax dollars that would go towards educational expenses. Hardly the epitome of limited government.
Niceley believes that a bill he sponsored preventing China, North Korea, Venezuela, among others from buying land in Tennessee may have upset Yass, as ByteDance is the Chinese owner of TikTok.
Along with opposing Niceley in his Senate District 8 race, School Freedom Fund is also opposing Bryan Richey in his bid for Senate District 2, and supporting three other candidates. Jason Emert in the House District 20 race, Lee Reeves in House District 65, and Aron Maberry in House District 68.
On June 6th, Governor Bill Lee publicly announced his endorsement of Emert, Reeves and Maberry because of their support of Lee’s plan for school vouchers.
Emert faces two self-proclaimed conservative challengers in the primary: Nick Bright and Tom Stinnett.
Maberry, who is running to fill the House seat left vacant by current Representative Curtis Johnson who is retiring, faces other GOP challengers in the primary: Carol Duffin, Greg Gilman, and Joe Smith.
Reeves, who claims he wants to demagnetize the state against illegal immigration is the owner/operator of Triumph Equity Management in Texas that owns an apartment complex that houses illegal immigrants.
Reeves is running to fill the House seat left vacant by current Representative Sam Whitson who is also retiring at the end of the term. GOP challenger Brian Beathard is also running for the seat, as well as conservative Michelle Foreman.
Mailers originating from Team Kid PAC, Tennesseans for Student Success, and American Federation for Children have also been sent out presenting false information about Niceley.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
18 Responses
I support Nick Bright and Bryan Richey from right here in Maryville. Both true conservatives and nice guys.
Nick Bright and Bryan Richey have proven themselves to represent Conservative Values without compromising with liberal PACs.
PAID FOR is who you are VOTING FOR!
I thought this was a conservative news source, maybe it is. The way it is worded makes one think that funding from out of state is UNDERMINING conservatives in our state, but when you find out which groups it is, you might find them “more” conservative. I think at best Bill Lee has been middle of the road, but school vouchers, is a great tool to combat the monstrously uncontrollable teachers union that has a strangle hold on the U.S. I am so far right, some think me dangerous, and I am very school voucher oriented. If it is our tax dollars funding education, why do we not get some say in “where” it is spent? This is capitalism, and I scratch my head wondering how a “true conservative” might not understand this concept.
The voucher bill in the House provided raises for public school teachers, increases in the paid portion of their benefits and increased public school spending in “rural” districts. The vouchers were completely separate new spending (aka taxation). The public school spending increased and the money wasn’t going to follow the voucher student, despite the fact the vouchers are a little more than half the public school spends per student. It was (intentionally?) incompatible with the senate bill. Under this scenario, no question your taxes will go up. There is no funding mechanism. Yass and Betsy/Dick Devos are half the funding of AFC Victory Fund (Alexandria, Va super pac) who is 100% of the funding for Tennessee Federation for Children. All the attack ads are out of state money.
Vouchers is code for UBI!!!!! It’s the slow creep of Universal Basic Income!
Hello Vernon,
Please read Shelly’s and Rhonda’s responses below. I owned a private school, have a Master’s in Education and when I researched WHO was pushing the vouchers (THIS particular type) I knew to stay away. These are Deep State players and their motives are highly suspect. The wonderful legislators they are challenging are those that any Constitutional Conservative would celebrate. We sure don’t choose to lose their presence in the Legislature. I encourage you to do more research. I have been pro-voucher in the past when the money would TRULY follow the student. This is NOT what this is! They are seeking an underhanded way to control both private schools and home schoolers. Creepy stuff. Look into it!
It’s government redistribution of wealth. That’s why.
So you’re for socialism? Redistribution of wealth?
Who calls themself a Conservative, but opposes school vouchers?! Do they think Metro public schools are doing a good job?! Maybe he thinks only the wealthy kids should have the option to go to a private school???
Hello Fox,
Please read Shelly’s and Rhonda’s responses below and mine above. Look into this further and you will smell what we smell. Dark money…dark intentions.
Who calls themselves a conservative but votes for redistribution of wealth?
To me, the people attacking Nicely and Richey sound suspicious.
“School Choice” sounds good but about 10 years ago I researched it and the main beneficiary was the Muslim “schools”. They would bring in “teachers” from the Middle East and, of course, all the students were Muslims, so instead of assimilating into America, they were able to be isolated and who knows what they were taught – probably not taught to be a good “American”. As I think about what I just wrote, I suppose I’m opposed to tax dollars funding that. No doubt “School Choice” would reduce TN funding of public schools, and that would cause tax increases because every child has the right to go to a public school.
There are vouchers and there are vouchers. The question surrounding them is control. I homeschooled my kids before homeschooling was cool. They are in their mid 30s now. If you can’t control your curriculum…. If the curriculum has to be state approved…. Then you are not homeschooling. Voucher rules remove your control. Don’t be fooled by vouchers.
I agree with you, Rhonda. I homeschooled for 26 years and was a longtime member of the Texas Home School Coalition and HSLDA. Both of those organizations opposed vouchers for that exact reason. Once the government gives you a tax benefit, they begin to require all sorts of compliance from parents. As a homeschool parent I did not want ANY bureaucrat telling me how to educate my children.
Look at the dark money, China, Rhonda and Shelly and David are right. I also want to upend what is japonica in our public schools but government funded school choice is not true freedom. It will backfire in time and the cost of education will rise significantly just like it did after Pell Grants and after the Hope Scholarships. Do your research.
I agree with the idea of school vouchers; in principle. How it is implemented is also important. What is in the small print regarding curriculum? Who is in charge of that, and what oversight is involved? This needs to be clear. The Left and Globalists are masters at adapting to changing circumstance, and they will get in front of and infect school choice initiatives with the same nonsense we see in public schools if we are not careful. As for a previous comment about the donor, Club for Growth, being “more conservative” than the Senator’s they are trying to replace; Club for Growth shills for anything and everything opposed to America First, Fair Trade, and President Trump. It is not surprising their leader and largest donor would be heavily invested in China. From the inception of this organization their primary purpose has been to propagandize for and promote shipping American manufacturing overseas, and importing foreign visa holders to the U.S. to replace American workers. If you value American sovereignty even a little bit, be very wary if anything or anyone pushed by Club for Growth.
We look at these District Attorneys that are soft on crime and state legislatures like California and New York and ask how did they become so twisted and socialist. But if you peel off the outer layers, you will find that Billionaires like George Soros funded many local level DA campaigns and state legislature senators and representatives. A year ago these liberals said they were going to launch an attack on Tennessee and crack the conservatives’ hold on the legislature. Folks, this is what’s happening now. You are witnessing their attacks and in fact are the target of them. Yes, Niceley and Richey wear the bull’s eye, but the real battle is for your vote–even if they must trick you (i.e., lie) to get it. Don’t be fooled, show Soros we are tougher than he and his billions of dollars. Dump a RHINO, but don’t throw out the baby–the tried and true conservatives–with the bathwater.
Tennesseans have to ask them selves why so many wealthy people around the country are pushing vouchers? The answer…..once all states have been sucked into the plan private, religious and any home educators WILL be sucked into the federal INDOCTRINATION system. Education to these people has nothing to do with academic achievement. It is all about change values, beliefs, behaviors and attitudes. We see it everyday in our public schools. And folks Common Core is still alive and well in TN. CC was not an American set of standards. CC was and is a global set of standards meant to get ALL children under the same umbrella. There can be no outliers. The only way they can get private, religious and home educators into the system is to mix public money into private education. In TN American Federation for Children is one of 2 organizations pushing this agenda. American Federation for Children was created by Betsy “Common Core” DeVos. The past leader of the TN Federation for Children (an arm of AFFC) was Gov. Lee’s campaign policy director and then he joined the Lee administration until last August as Lee’s policy director. Gee what a coincidence. This is not School Choice…….it will end being just the opposite. TN already has school choice. We can sent our children to public school, private school, religious school or home educate. What choice is missing from this list. The real problem is our state government is really not interested in actually doing the hard work to fix our failing education system. They chase one rainbow after another and those rainbows are generally packed with a ton of money and promises of great future careers if they go along. TN signed up for CC before the standards were ever written. No one in our TN legislature ever saw the standards before agreeing to take them on. WHY? Because by signing on TN got $501 million dollars. The have sold out kids out for decades and they are doing it again. What we need is a Governor and legislators that are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually do the hard work needed to fix this system. Step ONE is to get out from the federal government’s Dept. of Education. Back when CC was first circulating there were states that far surpassed TN in academic excellence. One of those states was MA. We were offered their standards and teacher certification program for FREE. MA was the #1 ranked state in the US for academic achievement but TN refused the offer. Again, WHY? Because the offer did not come with a $501 million pay off. WAKE UP people. Frank Niceley is one of handful of legislators that knows the score and is willing to fight against these liberal globalists that are all about changing the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of our children.