Senate bill sparking debate over forced open primaries
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF)- A bill advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly is raising concerns by local Republicans.
Senate Bill 799 would limit how local political parties are able to select candidates for elections.
A social media post by Hamilton County Republicans argued that mandating open primaries stifles their ability to pick candidates that best represent them.
Hamilton County Republican chairwoman Gail Greene added that, “SB 799 would negatively affect our ability to choose the best Republican candidate because it would take away local control. We would be forced to hold primary elections rather than having a choice between primary elections and county-wide nominating conventions.”
This tension was on display within a Senate committee this week.
The chairman of Williamson County’s Republican Party, Steve Hickey, was testifying with a similar stance to the Hamilton County Republicans, saying they would like to have more control over local elections.
Things became combative when fellow Republican, Hamilton County senator Todd Gardenhire, began aggressively questioning Hickey on what the definition of a Republican is, leading to this excahnge.
Hickey said that they expect of their candidates, “Because they claim to be a Republican they follow the Republican Party platform. “
Senator Gardenhire then asked, “But you said before, you had to vote in how many of the previous Presidential elections in order to…”
Hickey responded, “You had to vote in three of the last four.”
Senator Gardenhire then yelled at Hickey, “Excuse me, I’ll interrupt you in a minute if you’ll keep your mouth shut until I finish asking a question! You got that?”
Hickey responded, “Yes, senator.”
Senator Gardenhire responded, “Good.”
In terms of how primaries are currently ran, Greene said, “Technically our primaries are already “closed” but the law has no teeth so there have never been any consequences for those who break the law. I’m not sure why Republican legislators would be against truly closing the primaries unless they needed crossover votes to win.”
Greene said she believes that crossover votes have negatively impacted Republicans in previous elections and will continue to do so in future ones.
Senate Bill 799 passed through committee and will head to the full Senate.
