Veteran Republican lawmakers lose Tennessee House races

Two veteran Republican Tennessee lawmakers from East Tennessee lost re-election bids while a first-term Democratic state House legislator from Memphis fell in last week’s primary election.

Rep. John Crawford, a 10-year legislator and chairman of the State and Local Government Committee from Sullivan County, was defeated by Jessica Means by a vote count of 4,021, 61%, to 2,574, 39%, in the House District 1 race, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial count.

Means, a homeschool parent, captured the primary despite political attack ads claiming Democrats funded her campaign and accusing her of backing “higher taxes and open borders,” all of which she said was false, according to a news report. Means faces no Democratic opponent in November’s general election.

Rep. Dennis Powers, a 14-year legislator and chairman of the Private Acts Committee from Jacksboro, fell to Noah Smith, an airline pilot, by a wide margin, 8,034, 67%, to 3,963, 33%, in the House 36th District race. Smith has no opposition in the Democratic camp this fall.

Rep. Gabby Salinas, a former researcher at St. Jude Children’s Hospital, lost to Memphis entrepreneur Telisa Franklin 4,593, 55%, to 3,725, 45, after one term representing the 96th House District. Salinas, who barely lost to former state Sen. Brian Kelsey in 2018, was among a group of lawmakers who sued the state to prevent the Tennessee National Guard from being deployed as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The Supreme Court ruled that she and other plaintiffs didn’t have standing to file the suit.

Franklin publishes “I Love My Community” magazine and operates CEO Academy for aspiring business people.

Republican Rep. Todd Warner of Chapel Hill was beaten soundly by state Sen. Brent Taylor in the Republican primary for a congressional seat but narrowly defeated Vincent Cuevas in the District 92 GOP primary. Warner, who collected 4,430 votes, 52%, to Cuevas’ 4,062, 48%, survived attacks connected to a quarry/lake operation on his Marshall County farm that ran into neighbors’ complaints.

In a tight Democratic primary for the House District 59 seat being vacated by Rep. Caleb Hemmer, retired Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Mark Proctor squeaked by attorney and businesswoman Angie Lawless. Proctor collected 2,475 votes, 31.9%, to Lawless’ 2,397, 30.8%, Beth West’s 1,755, 22.6%, and Rick Ewing’s 1,135, 14.62%.

Proctor, who will face Republican Bill Hancock in the November general election, received a boost from the LGBTQ Victory Fund Federal PAC, which sent out mailers hammering Lawless for asking a federal judge to give a light sentence to former House aide Cade Cothren in his corruption trial. Cothren and former ex-House Speaker Glen Casada were convicted on multiple counts of honest services fraud and conspiracy in connection with a secretive political services firm but were pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Republican state Rep. Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain bested attorney Tony Hullender by 17 percentage points, 6,030 to 4,313, even though the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce endorsed the challenger. Reneau aligned herself with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again campaign. 

Reneau, who upset former House finance chair Patsy Hazlewood two years ago, passed legislation this year prohibiting certain dyes in school food programs but failed to pass a bill prohibiting public utilities from adding fluoride to water systems. She faces Democrat Paige Quirin in November.

In House District 80, where longtime Democratic Rep. Johnny Shaw is leaving the legislature, Andrea Bond Johnson won the nomination with nearly 50% over Bethany Miller and Shelia Godwin. She will go up against Republican Julian McTizic, mayor of Bolivar, in the November election.