RINOs Rally Behind Establishment Candidate Tom Hatcher

Based On Campaign Contributions, Establishment Republicans Have A Clear Favorite In The Pool Of Candidates For Tennessee’s District 2 Senate Seat.

Image Credit: tomhatcherforsenate.com & capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

It’s 2024, and that means an election year for some of the Senate seats in Tennessee’s State Senate. 

This year there will be a primary for the District 2 seat in the State Senate which represents Blount, Monroe, Polk and part of Bradley counties. It has, since December of 2017, been represented by now 71-year-old Art Swann. 

Swann announced that he would not be seeking reelection this past January, opening up the seat for what could amount to a power shift in the State Senate, depending on who wins the primary election this August.

It seems to be evident within the State Senate that there is a shift in the Republican party, one which includes those who were elected based on a populist conservative platform. 

This would explain the clear preference of one particular candidate over the other two, with all three vying for the opportunity to face off against any Democrat that could be running in the general election in November. 

Three Republican candidates have declared their intent to compete for the open seat:

• Tom Hatcher, the clerk of courts in Blount County since 1994

• Bryan Richey, the current Representative in Tennessee’s State House newly elected in 2022 who handily edged out establishment Republican Bob Ramsey who had held the seat as an incumbent since 2008

• John G. Pullias, Maryville resident and business owner

Patti Young, a Democrat, is also a candidate for District 2.

Among the three GOP candidates, there seems to be a clear favorite with establishment Republicans some of whom are also facing their own re-election races. 

According to campaign contributions, establishment Republicans appear to want Tom Hatcher among their ranks come next session.

Based on a 1^st quarter report of all contributions, Tom Hatcher has received contributions from the following sitting state Senators:

• On 2/12/2024, a $5,000 contribution was made by Jack-PAC, State Senate Majority leader, Jack Johnson’s Political Action Committee.

• Also, on 2/12/2024, KeyPAC the political action committee of State Senator Ken Yager, contributed $2,000.

• On 2/16/2024 State Senator Jon Lundberg’s PAC, Nash PAC contributed $3,000.00. Lundberg faces his own primary challenge against Bobby Harshbarger, son of Congresswoman for District 1, Diana Harshbarger. 

• And on 3/1/2024, Senator John Stevens contributed $1,000.00 from his PAC, Stevens PAC.

Based on these contributions, it appears several key members of the state senate would prefer to see Hatcher replace Swann in the winter, which begs the question as to why there would be such a preference?

According to his campaign website, Hatcher, whose treasurer of record is Tyler Parks, president of Blount County Young Republicans, indicates a platform predicated on key conservative policy points like 2A rights, pro-life policy advocacy, fiscal responsibility, and a thriving local economy. All of which are unarguably conservative linchpins in any campaign that seeks to have a successful outcome in an election in a state as conservative as Tennessee.

However, considering Bryan Richey has already been a very active member of the State House, there is a track record that Richey has the ability to run on, an advantage which the other candidates do not have access to.

Richey has become known for sponsoring and signing onto legislation that rattled the Establishment Republican machine, pushing boundaries and bringing attention to issues that based on Richey’s conversations with his own constituents, were most important to them. 

Some of Richey’s bills from the past two sessions include: 

• HB0001 (co-sponsor)- a law pertaining to the prohibition of medical procedures to minors for the purpose of enabling them to identify or live an identity inconsistent with their sex.  

• HB0009 (co-sponsor)- creates as an offense any person engaging in an adult cabaret performance which could be viewed by a person who is not an adult.

• HB1445 (co-sponsor)- prohibits certain educational institutions from allowing individuals using the institutions network, access to platforms affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.

• HB0892 (co-sponsor) – expands reporting requirements involving assault, battery or vandalism offenses committed by a student on school property.  Provides educators the right to receive benefits due to injuries they sustained in the course of their employment.

• HB0068 (co-sponsor) – expands the number of children and students eligible for access to after school learning camps.

• HB2078 (prime sponsor) – sought to prohibit any person from transporting an illegal alien into the state, increase fines for transporting illegal aliens into the state from $1000 to $5000, and remove current exemptions from fines in Tennessee law for commercial carriers.

• HB1881 (co-sponsor) – increases the penalty for assault against a law enforcement officer from a Class A misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum 30-day sentence and $5,000 fine to a Class E felony with a mandatory minimum 60-day sentence and $10,000 fine. 

• HB1663 (co-sponsor) – authorizes the death penalty as a punishment for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child, or especially aggravated rape of a child.

In the early days of this past session, on the House floor, Representative Richey made a motion to amend the current rules of procedure for how members of House Committees and Subcommittees cast their vote.

The motion was in favor of roll call votes vs. voice votes. The roll call votes provide the public knowledge of their representatives voting records, which Richey feels is important. 

Richey also sponsored a bill establishing a referendum process by which the electorate of a local government may vote to establish term limits.

He co-sponsored a bill that prohibits local governments from expanding funds to be used for the purposes of abortions and a bill that deletes provisions authorizing the establishment of “convenient” voting centers. 

For his dedication to conservative values, his voting record and sponsorship of bills consistent with those values, the Conservative Club of Tellico recognized State Representative Bryan Richey as Tennessee Conservative of the year for 2023.

Richey was endorsed by The Tennessee Conservative when he ran for his current House seat, unseating incumbent Bob Ramsey by a margin of 30 percentage points. 

The only information that could be found on the third candidate on the race, John Pullias is from this website which contained this short bio: 

“John Pullias was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned a high school diploma from Oakland High School and a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1987. His career experience includes working in manufacturing as a small business owner. He has been affiliated with the Great Smoky Mountains Association, Friends of the Smokies, Tennessee Wildlife Federation, and National Rifle Association.”

A recent report on the exits of several lawmakers in the state government of Tennessee, conveys the change in priorities from the Republicans who took control of the state house through the mid 2000’s, to those who are moving to take their places with priorities based on social issues like the transgender agenda, porn on school library shelves, and abortion bans post Roe. 

In a time when conservatives only wanted to focus on money, the economy and taxes, those who lead the charge then are taking their final bows and some critics believe it is time.

This includes members like some of those who have determined they will not be returning, staying rather late at the party when there was clearly no longer room for their brand of expired neo-conservatism. 

The party can be objectively observed as having made a radical shift from the old style of neo-conservatism to a new populist brand of conservatism with the election of President Donald Trump.

Social issues, which had been abandoned decades ago by conservative politicians, are now front and center. And anyone wishing to make a name for themselves in the new populist conservative movement understands this, and gets directly on board. 

The primary for the State House and Senate will be held on August 1^st, and the general election is being held on November 5^th, 2024.