Rep. John Ragan’s Primary Election Challenge Keeps Tennessee GOP On Their Guard

Image Credit: John D. Ragan / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

The Tennessee Conservative has been diligently covering State Representative John Ragan’s (R-Oak Ridge-District 33) challenge to his primary loss on August 1, 2024 as Ragan filed the challenge due to the abnormally high number of crossover Democrat voters in his race.

Ragan’s loss by 258 votes is a small enough margin to be reexamined regardless, but particularly warrants concern with the number of crossover votes far exceeding 258 and with Anderson County Democrats tacitly acknowledging their part in the subversion.

Tennessee’s open primary system, while in conflict with Tennessee state law declaring crossover voting illegal, has proceeded unchecked as each political party is allowed to determine the standards for bona fide status in voting, allowing for much ambiguity and unenforceability.

Crossover voting has been a problem for both Democrat and Republican primaries in the past, and Ragan’s challenge presents another opportunity for Republican lawmakers to lead effectively and create closed-primary legislation for the benefit of all Tennessee citizens, regardless of party affiliation.

97% of Republican voters polled do not want Democrats voting in Republican primaries, yet Republican legislative leadership has effectively thumbed their noses at State Executive Committee (SEC) and GOP Party leadership requests to close the primary.

The SEC can effectively send a message to General Assembly leadership by restoring Ragan to the ballot and reminding legislators that they serve the interests of the people and the party, not the reverse, assuming SEC members are willing to find the gumption to stay the course and be unyielding to outside political pressures. 

Conservative activists have been urging citizens to contact the SEC, inclusive of State Party Chair Scott Golden, and state legislators as reportedly, no Republican members of the legislature have publicly supported Ragan’s challenge. In addition, Anderson County election officials have advised the board not to take up the case. 

The Anderson County election commission is led by Administrator Mark Stephens and election commissioners include William “Bear” Stephenson, Mary Matheny, David Bradshaw, D. Jane Miller and William T. Gallaher.

Per Republican bylaws, the SEC must hear the challenge and ultimately decide to discard the crossover votes or allow the primary result to stand.

Though Golden is fulfilling the requirements of calling the meeting, he appears to be unclear about Tennessee and GOP organizational laws and rules dictating the procedures, forcing Ragan to apply pressure to ensure he gets a fair hearing. 

Golden’s initial email to the SEC members regarding the challenge included Ragan’s challenge filing and supporting documents and set the adjudication for Monday, August 28^th, via Zoom. He also includes a section detailing other districts whose races were so close that challenges would not be unexpected, begging the question as to why he would be ignorant of the proceedings moving forward:

Dear Members –

Happy Monday to all and I hope you are doing well. I know we are getting a lot of emails from

Anderson County concerning the election challenge of House District 33. I didn’t realize until

this morning that you were getting the emails, but had not received the basis for the complaint.

Attached are all the documents sent on Friday from Rep. John Ragan including his challenge

letter, his rationale for the election dispute, and a list of voters that serve as the foundation for

the complaint.

In the interest of transparency, I wanted everyone to have all this information in its original form

so you can familiarize yourself with the challenge. So far, this is the only challenge that I am

aware of at this point. Tennessee law allows for candidates to challenge a primary 5 days

following the certification of the election results. As you know, different counties certify at

different times so it is a rolling period for us. And given the closeness of the August primary it is

possible that we will likely hear more challenges. For example:

HD 65 in Williamson was decided by 1% with 95 votes difference

HD 27 in Hamilton was decided by 2% with 137 votes difference

HD 20 in Blount was decided by 2% with 139 votes difference

SD 4 in Sullivan was decided by 4% with 872 votes difference

HD 68 in Montgomery was decided by 5% with 358 votes difference

The election of House District 33 between Rep. John Ragan and Rick Scarbrough was decided

by 4.6% with a 258 vote difference.

For your reference, the spreadsheet lists the 1135 voters in question and in dispute in this

election.

The breakdown follows:

420 voters with no vote history (1-420)

22 voters are 4/4 Democrat (421-442)

56 voters are 3/4 Democrat (443-498)

48 voters are 2/4 Democrat (499-546)

71 voters are 1/4 Democrat (547-617)

232 voters have mixed record with Rep/Dem (618-849)

286 voters are 1/4 Republican (850-1135)

Please take a look at the information provided. As of now, pending any additional

challenges, we will look to host a zoom State Primary Board meeting on Monday, August

26, 2024 to adjudicate this matter. The meeting would be scheduled for 5pm Central;

6pm Eastern. As with our previous State Primary Board Meetings, we will allot time for

both the challenger to present his case, the challenged to present, and questions from

Members. As required by TCA 2-17-104, this meeting will be open to the public and

press. Anyone in the Nashville area wishing to come to the office is welcome.

For reference, Rule K in the TNGOP Bylaws is the section that governs any primary election

challenges. We will send out reminders and should you have any questions please don’t

hesitate to contact me.

*View Ragan’s challenge letter and his rationale for the election dispute here, here and here.

His next communication a few days later pushes the originally scheduled Zoom meeting to September 7^th, as he claims to have been made aware of the 2023 law requiring a “physical quorum”. He mentions there is no venue secured but does reaffirm the meeting must remain open to the public, which is both legally correct and ethical. Reportedly, Ragan also opposed a video call, citing concerns about the validity of a meeting held virtually:

Dear Members –

Happy Friday afternoon. Hope everyone is heading out to a high school football game and

getting ready for the start of college football tomorrow!

I wanted to let you know that I was informed yesterday that an updated law passed in 2023

concerning Tennessee’s authorized boards and open meeting standards requires the TNGOP

State Primary Board to conduct meetings with a physical quorum being present. Simply put,

our 20 year history of conference calls and zooms will no longer be allowed for conducting

election challenges. Therefore, we will be having an in-person meeting on September 7th,

2024.

We do not have a location for the meeting yet. (TSLA is booked and there is a Wounded

Warrior 5K happening in front of their garage). Upon further clarification today, the meeting can

be conducted in a private location but it must remain open to the public because of the nature of

the meeting.

While I realize that 9/7/24 is a busy political day, we expect to begin the meeting at our normal

10:00 AM.

So, no zoom on Monday night! We will update again once we have secured a location.

If you cannot physically be with us on 9/7/24, please let me know as we make sure we will be

able to meet the quorum requirement.

Thanks for all your patience as we work through these new rules and make sure that the

TNGOP does everything correctly.

Best,

Scott

In Golden’s most recent email on Wednesday, August 28^th, a location is set for the meeting, and he thanks members for their patience as they navigate the challenge process. Golden also indicates the SEC will amend bylaws and put pressure on lawmakers to increase organizational efficiency but fails to clarify if those changes will be in support of closing primaries or how these changes might affect election challenges in the future. Finally, he creates a committee tasked with drafting a Tennessee Republican Platform and appoints RNC Committeewoman Beth Campbell as its temporary chair. The requirements or direction of the TN Platform Committee are unstated:

Dear Members –

I hope everyone is getting ready for the start of college football on Thursday night and looking

forward to a great Labor Day weekend of relaxing. Before we close the books on August, I

need to update a few things for our planning purposes.

First, thanks for your patience as we work through the State Primary Board process and

procedure. Each day is still a learning experience and we will move forward, change our bylaws

as needed and recommend changes to state law that would help our organization become as

efficient as possible.

Second, here is the information on the State Primary Board Meeting. Once the lawyers have

given approval I will send you the official notification that will be included on our website as well.

STATE PRIMARY MEETING:

LOCATION: Hilton Garden Inn, 1975 Providence Parkway, Mount Juliet, TN 37122

DATE: Saturday, September 7th, 2024

TIME: 2:30 PM

Third, the next email to follow is for the approval of the slate of 2024 Presidential electors.

Please respond as quickly as possible so we can hit our majority of 32 (current SEC has 62

members) votes for passage.

Finally, the following members are impaneled to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee for the

purpose of drafting a Tennessee Republican Party Platform. I am appointing RNC

Committeewoman Beth Campbell as the temporary chair of the committee and the committee is

free to organize themselves as best they see fit. I reserve the right to add additional members if

necessary.

TN Platform Committee:

1. Beth Campbell – Chair

2. Charlotte Kelley

3. Shannon Haynes

4. Linda D. Buckles

5. Terri Nicholson

6. Tim Beacham

7. Angie McClanahan

8. Dr. John Stanbery

9. Linda Clark

10. Larry Hillis

11. Tess Robbins

12. Emily Goldberg

13. Bill Russell

Please let Ginger know when to set up an initial zoom conversation.

Thanks to all. I am blessed to be a part of this organization and amazed at the time, talent, and

dedication of the SEC. Let’s finish 2024 strong!

Best,

Scott

As previously stated, the September 7^th meeting will be open to the public and conservatives are encouraged to attend in support of Rep. Ragan.

LOCATION: Hilton Garden Inn, 1975 Providence Parkway, Mount Juliet, TN 37122

DATE: Saturday, September 7th, 2024

TIME: 2:30 PM

The Tennessee Conservative will continue to monitor the case and offer information as it becomes available.  

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.