TN GOP Bounces Lee, Ortagus & Starbuck From District 5 Congressional Ballot
Image Credit: BaxterLee.com / MorganOrtagus.com / Starbuck2022.com
By Holly McCall [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
The Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee voted Tuesday to remove three candidates for the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District, including former President Donald Trump’s endorsee, Morgan Ortagus.
Scott Golden, TNGOP chair, confirmed that Ortagus, Robby Starbuck and Baxter Lee failed in their appeals to be restored to the ballot after the executive committee first removed the three at an April 9 meeting. All had their Republican bona fides—essentially, their partisan credentials—challenged.
Legislation passed in 2019 requires a state party executive committee to notify candidates within seven days of a filing deadline, which was April 7, of exclusion from the ballot. The candidates whose credentials were challenged had seven days to appeal their expulsion from the ballot and the TNGOP executive committee delivered their decision just shy of Wednesday’s deadline.
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Ortagus and Starbuck, both of whom are relative newcomers to Tennessee, have been fighting off challenges to their candidacies for months. The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill March 29 to require candidates for U.S. Senate of U.S. House of Representatives to be residents of the state for three years. Ortagus moved to Tennessee within the last year. Starbuck apparently moved to the state within the last three years.
A group called the Tennessee Conservatives PAC filed suit days later to challenge the law’s constitutionality.
Starbuck confirmed to a Lookout reporter he has been removed from the ballot and he posted a message on Facebook that said: “The corruption will be exposed. The fight has only just begun. We can’t let RINO’s (Republican in name only) destroy our party.”
In a statement, Ortagus said, “I am deeply disappointed in the SEC’s decision. I’m a bonafide Republican by their standards, and frankly, by any metric. I’m further disappointed that the party insiders at the Tennessee Republican Party do not seem to share my commitment to President Trump’s America first policies. As I have said all along, I believe that voters in Middle Tennessee should pick their representative–not establishment party insiders. Our team is evaluating the options before us.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
I am beyond enraged at our so-called GOP! Nothing but a bunch of RICH RINOS running the “Republican” party in Tennessee! Out to line their own pockets and build professional sports stadiums for the good old boy buddies on OUR TAXES. These are the same people who REFUSED to vote for our medical freedom in Tennessee! They are FIXING THE ELECTION so we can’t get them and their buddies out of office! And they HATE TRUMP!
This is why I chuck Republican fund-Raiser mail in the shredder. Not a single dime of my money will go to support these corrupt RINO’s or their Robo-callers at WINRED!!! Sady it’s hard to find an alternate route to support America First candidates direcly.
Not so Neal. You can support America First candidates directly by seeing who gets the endorsement from the House Freedom Fund and the Senate Conservatives Fund for America First ideology then check with the Club For Growth PAC and see who it is endorsing to make sure whoever catches your eye has a reasonably good chance of winning. STICK TO THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES! Unless we get conservative Republicans nominated there is no reason to even play the game.
Oh, and BTW, if you live in Williamson County and want to directly support local candidates please check with the Williamson Families PAC [williamson-families.org] to see who they support for local elections. They are VERY serious about getting conservatives onto the County Commission and the School Board. I understand a similar organization has formed in Sumner County too.
Ditto
You can be a biological male and self identify as female without any PROOF, compete in NCAA women’s sports, use the women’s restrooms AND be assigned to an all women’s prison only to impregnate multiple inmates but these candidates have to prove they’re a Republican to run for office?
A real Republican wouldn’t be so pathetic and weak and they’d accept the challenge in a free and FAIR election!