The World According to Oatney

Sine Die-It's Over

The 106th General Assembly has certainly had its share of color, controversy, and excitement. From a man elected Speaker of the House with the votes of the minority party plus his own, to the crafting of one budget padded with surplus money and the other somehow balancing the books without a tax increase in a terrible economic downturn. The exit from the political stage of some of the more prominent members of the General Assembly, from hardworking Senator Dewayne Bunch to "consensus-building" Representative Joe McCord and House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower, will also be noted in future histories, as some of Tennessee's most prominent State-level political figures used the looming election filing deadlines to declare that they were leaving public life-some for now, and some permanently. Still others announced they were running for other offices. Representatives Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet), Mike Bell (R-Riceville), and Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) all announced they would seek Senate seats to join their colleague Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) who won a special election and ended up there at the end of the last legislative session. Meanwhile, Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) will likely be the next Knox County Mayor, and Rep. John Litz (D-Morristown) is running for county executive in Hamblen County.

Labels: Democrats, Elections, Republican Party, Tennessee politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 4:35 PM