Image Credit: First American Bible Project / Facebook, State Representative John Ragan / Facebook & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
The Tennessee Conservative was granted an interview with State Executive Committee (SEC) Member Chris Morris (District 28), who offered his insight and opinions on Rep. John Ragan’s primary election challenge.
For more information regarding this challenge, click here.
Chris Morris has previously expressed frustration at the GOP’s not following bylaws regarding “bona fide” status and led an effort in January of this year to amend the Tennessee State GOP bylaws to tighten eligibility requirements for GOP primary candidates.
During the interview, Morris made a point of reiterating that the SEC, “can recommend, but we do not make state law, and I think a lot of people have got a misconception, but [that] does fall in the hands of our state legislators.”
When asked if he has seen evidence of crossover voting in Ragan’s primary election challenge documents he stated, “There is evidence that there was crossover voting. I think there was a total of 22 Democrats that were 4/4 voting democratic that crossed over and voted in the Republican primary. And I think there were 56 that voted that were 3/4 Democrat. So, a total of 78 votes that voted in the Republican primary, there’s no denying that.”
The problem, he alleges, is that because votes are protected there is no way to discern for which candidate these crossovers cast their vote.
Regarding the election contest itself, Morris says, “I am not going to vote to overturn this election.”
While he believes Ragan to be “a great individual”, Morris also holds that the 258-vote margin won’t be overcome even if all 78 crossover votes could be awarded to Ragan.
Morris also commented on the low voter turnout Tennessee is witnessing and the disenfranchisement voters may feel if the election is overturned. “We have a hard enough time getting people to go vote so if you were to overturn this election, you’re going to have more and more people say, ‘Well my vote doesn’t matter’”.
He elaborated, “If we were talking about 25 votes, that Rick [Scarborough] beat him [John Ragan] by 25 votes, we could be talking more. We would be setting a whole new precedent if we overturned this election.”
Morris believes, in this instance, it is the District Attorney’s responsibility to “enforce the rule of law” in Tennessee State Statute regarding crossover voting.
“The DA up there in Anderson County needs to be doing his job because there’s proof that you have 78 people who were bona fide Democrats that crossed over to participate in a Republican primary,” Morris said.
Beyond the scope of this challenge, Morris has his eye on the bigger picture. “The crossover voting could be solved if we would either one, close the primaries or two, do party registration. We wouldn’t even be talking about crossover voting.”
He relayed that for the past two years, the SEC passed a unanimous resolution asking legislators to close the primaries, but “it never makes it out of committee,” which Morris believes is because “there are Republicans who hedge their bet on crossover voting.”
He continued, “My full belief is we’ve got a supermajority in the House and Senate but don’t act like it. And we’ve got a lot of weak-kneed Republicans. It’s going to take 30 members of the House getting defeated to wake them up, I’m afraid, and then it will be too little too late.”
In contrast, Morris provided examples of legislators he feels are true examples of Republican leadership and deemed them the top three senators in state: Joey Hensley, Mark Pody, and Janice Bowling – all known conservative champions. Morris praised the Senators saying they, “have a backbone and substance”.
The special SEC meeting where the challenge will be heard is set for Saturday, September 7th, 2:30 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Mount Juliet, Tennessee (1975 Providence Parkway, 31722) and is open to the public. Anyone wishing to make a public comment must email Ginger Morrow (ginger@tngop.com) by 2:30 PM on September 5th.
***Note: the opinions and insights of the interviewee recorded here do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of The Tennessee Conservative or this journalist.
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.
