Williamson County Special Nomination Convention For District 7 County Commissioner (Update 9.9.22)

***Update 9.9.22****

Update provided by Williamson County Republican Party member:

• The candidates look to be Chris Richards (lost by 11 votes in this past spring’s GOP primary; failed appeal to TN GOP State Executive Committee that Mr. Richards filed on the grounds of demonstrable crossover voting & an 11 vote discrepancy across the county between applications to vote and actual ballots cast) and Bobby Hullett (former D7 school board member 2012-2017 who resigned his seat months after reelection to take a vacant D7 county commission seat, which he subsequently vacated in 2018 in a failed run for the TN-61 seat).
• The county party announced convention participants would have to pre-register by 11:59pm September 6th to vote in the convention.  That looks to have been extended to noon, September 8th.  This is questionable as there does not appear to be such a requirement nor even provision in the existing county bylaws for such pre-registration, raising the question of whether a bona fide Republican can show up the day of the convention and expect to participate.
• The county party has announced the convention is for bona fide Republicans (voted in 3 out of the last 4 GOP state/federal primaries) and appear to be foregoing the vouching process (codified in Article VI, Section 2, Paragraph 2, subsection 2).  If they do eschew vouching, this should prevent special, subjective treatment of certain potential convention attendees.
• The county party has further stipulated convention participants must have some tangible support of the GOP (per bylaws Article VI, Section 2, Paragraph 4).  However, the bylaws do not indicate the level of support required.  This highly subjective determination of what constitutes support could again lead to participants being turned away.
• The county party has refused to share with candidates the list of registered participants, nor have they indicated whether they will allow the candidates (or a designated representative(s)) to observe the admission procedures in the one hour period before the convention is due to begin.  While not included in their bylaws, these actions would offer a measure of transparency and build trust in the final results.  Failure to provide transparency will exacerbate concerns regarding subjective application of party support criteria, whether someone pre-registered by the posted deadline, and even if the CEC will adhere to their “no-vouching” pledge.

The convention is Tuesday, September 13th at the Cool Springs Marriott Convention Center, 700 Cool Springs Blvd, Franklin.  Admission begins at 4:45pm and concludes at 5:45pm, with the convention convening promptly at 6:00pm.

***Update 9.2.22 – The party bylaws state that only members may vote in these nominating conventions.  The donation to become a member is $ 35.00 for individuals and $ 50.00 for a family membership.  To sign up for membership, please visit www.williamsongop.org and click on the Donate button. We also just learned that, according to SEC Chairman Scott Golden, voters may also qualify by donating time and effort to the WCRP if they do not wish to donate cash to the WCRP.***

Image Credit: Ichabod / CC

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

A long-serving Williamson County Commissioner has died before the commencement of his ninth term necessitating a special election to be held in conjunction with the November 8th State General Election.

The Williamson County Republican Party has announced a special called convention for the purposes of selecting the Republican nominee to represent District 7 in the Williamson County Commission. The press release for the convention can be found below.

Press Release –

Mass Convention 

Date and Time: Tuesday, September 13th at 6:00 p.m. central time.

Address:

Cool Springs Marriott

Convention Center

700 Cool Springs Blvd

Franklin, TN 37067

Pursuant to T.C.A 5-1-104 (b) (2), the Williamson County Republican Party will hold a special called convention for the purposes of selecting the following:

District 7 – Williamson County Commission Republican Nominee

Interested candidates: In order to qualify for consideration, the candidate must live in the Williamson County District 7 and have voted in three of the last four Republican Primaries. Anyone who meets this requirement must contact Cheryl@williamsongop.org by noon Tuesday, September 6 for consideration.

To prequalify and secure your attendance and ability to vote at the WCRP Nomination Convention, please register here by midnight Monday, September 6th, 2022.  

NOTE: The registration link will close at 11:59 p.m. CST, Tuesday, September 6.

Convention Voting Criteria:

✓ Current Registered Voter residing in District 7, Williamson County 

✓ Must be an active member of the Republican Party – The party bylaws state that only members may vote in these nominating conventions.  The donation to become a member is $ 35.00 for individuals and $ 50.00 for a family membership.  To sign up for membership, please visit www.williamsongop.org and click on the Donate button.

✓ Must have voted in three (3) of the last four (4) Statewide Republican Primary elections – August 2022, March 2022, August 2020, August 2018

Day of the Convention:

• Doors will open at 4:45 pm for qualified voter sign in.

• Doors will close at 5:45 pm and Convention will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

• Candidates will be given time to address the convention.

• Convention members will vote. 

• After votes are counted and tallied, the candidate with the most votes will be announced as the District 7 Commission Republican Nominee.