Image Credit: State Representative John Ragan / Facebook
By Adam Friedman [The Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
(Edited, Information Added by The Tennessee Conservative Staff)
The Tennessee Republican Party’s state executive committee did not hear Oak Ridge Rep. John Ragan’s request to challenge his August primary loss to former Clinton police chief Rick Scarbrough on Monday.
The party was set to meet virtually on August 26th to hear the challenge and an email notice was sent to TNGOP SEC members by Scott Golden, head of the Tennessee Republican Party.
However, another email to SEC members followed where Golden stated:
“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.“
Reports also state that Representative Ragan opposed a video call and questioned the validity of any decision made during one.
Golden added that the meeting may still take place virtually, pending approval from the Tennessee Comptroller and Secretary of State.
Ragan lost his primary race to Scarbrough by 258 votes on Aug. 1 for the district that is slightly northwest of Knoxville in Anderson County. He was one of two incumbent Republicans who lost that night.
Within days of the loss, Ragan said he planned to challenge Scarbrough’s victory, and has presented evidence that Democrats crossed over to vote in the Republican primary to defeat him.
Tennessee law requires primary voters to either be a bona fide party member or declare allegiance to the party. Voting clerks have interpreted this “allegiance” as simply requesting the party’s ballot on election day.
This effectively creates an open primary system in Tennessee, where voters can choose their party on the day of the primary.
Some Republicans have attempted to pass legislation for a closed primary, requiring voters to declare party allegiance ahead of time, but their efforts have failed.
In many of Tennessee’s state and county races, the primary winner is almost guaranteed to win the general election, prompting voters from both parties to cross over and influence the primary outcome.
Ragan’s defeat surprised him, but according to reports, no state Republicans have defended or supported his challenge. Anderson County election officials urged the Republican Party not to take up the challenge.
However, many in the conservative Tennessee grassroots community have spoken up and challenged the TNGOP SEC Committee to toss out the crossover votes, make Rep. John Ragan the Republican nominee and send a message to Tennessee Republican leadership in the Legislature to officially close the state’s primaries.
One Response
Need LOTS more like Ragan to hold the TNGOP State Primary Board pukes’ feet to the fire.