Tennessee's Equity Alliance keys in on Knox County to boost voter turnout in 2024

Angela Dennis, Knoxville News Sentinel
·3 min read

An alliance led by Black women is trying to turn out the vote in Knox County and five of the state's other biggest counties in an effort to crack the Republican Party's supermajority in the Tennessee Legislature.

The Tennessee-based Equity Alliance is committed to building independent Black political and economic power statewide, according to its website. The alliance is focusing on Davidson, Knox, Montgomery, Rutherford, Shelby and Wilson counties, home to 40% of the Volunteer State's registered voters.

Last year, the alliance began identifying counties for its initiative. Organizers analyzed regions where higher voter turnout could disrupt the state's Republican supermajority. Rachael Spriggs, a strategist for the alliance, told Knox News that increasing voter turnout could change the outcome in four state House races and one state Senate race.

“We looked at areas with the smallest margins in breaking the supermajority and how we could increase voter turnout to achieve that. Knox County stood out as one of those counties where strategic investment could make a significant difference,” Spriggs said.

The Knox County races are:

  • House District 14, which Republican incumbent Jason Zachary won with more than 64% of the vote in 2022. He is unopposed in the primary and faces Democrat Amanda Collins in a rematch in the Nov. 5 general election.

  • House District 15, which Democratic incumbent Sam McKenzie won with 71% of the vote in 2022. McKenzie faces a Democratic primary challenge on Aug. 1 from Knox County Commissioner Dasha Lundy. The winner will face Republican Justin Hirst in the Nov. 5 general election.

  • House District 18, which Republican incumbent Elaine Davis won with 54% of the vote in 2022. She is unopposed in the primary and faces Democrat Bryan Goldberg in the Nov. 5 general election.

  • House District 90, which Democratic incumbent Gloria Johnson won with nearly 58% of the vote in 2022. She is unopposed in the state House Aug. 1 primary and Nov. 5 general election, although she is simultaneously running for U.S. Senate. She faces Marquita Bradshaw in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary on Aug. 1 and is likely to face presumptive Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in the Nov. 5 general election.

  • Senate District 6, which Republican incumbent Becky Duncan Massey won in 2020 with more than 63% of the vote. Massey faces Monica Irvine in the Aug. 1 primary. The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Domonica Bryan in the Nov. 5 general election.

Tennessee had the lowest voter turnout in the nation in the 2020 midterm elections with 38.6% of registered voters casting ballots, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study. In Knox County, 41.1% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterms.

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The Equity Alliance's efforts will include voter education events, canvassing and young voter engagement. Spriggs told Knox News that as the alliance awaits the Aug. 1 primary results, the organization is prepared to adapt its strategies to support candidates aligned with its mission of promoting social and economic justice.

"We are structured and systematic by precinct, identifying who we need to, how to talk to them, the narratives we use, and how to engage our base," Spriggs said.

Angela Dennis is the Knox News race, justice and equity reporter. Email angela.dennis@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Equity Alliance targets Knox County to boost voter turnout