Republicans shouldn't bet they have a permanent supermajority in Tennessee | Opinion
Tennessee Republicans might want to rethink their strategy.
The effort last spring to expel three Democrats – two successfully – from their offices in the state legislature once again thrust the Volunteer State into national headlines just days after Nashville became the latest city to experience a horrific school shooting that left seven dead.
Rather than focus on addressing the issue of guns and violence in schools, the House of Representatives spent six hours working to oust three Democrats who broke the chamber’s rules – never mind the fact that a Republican member was recording the trio, itself a prohibited act.
To justify the GOP’s actions, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who is widely believed to be preparing for a run for governor, and others in leadership, made illogical or outright false assertions.
Sexton equated peaceful protests at the statehouse to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and claimed the Democrats, who became known as the Tennessee Three, were attempting to “incite violence.” While others in the GOP said the lawmakers were being punished for violating the sanctity of the chamber, recent history paints a different picture, with several Republicans getting in trouble for taking advantage of their positions of power.
Sadly, for those living in Tennessee, the Republican supermajority’s actions come as little surprise.
Another view: Rep. Sabi Kumar: A look back at the Tennessee Three expulsion votes: Here's why lawmakers did it.
The legislature has chipped away at local authority
For years, the legislature has established a track record of high-stakes squabbles with a politically weak Democratic minority that represents the state’s most populous and economically fertile areas.
The GOP has rejected efforts by local officials in Nashville and Memphis to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana; forced a controversial school voucher system onto the state’s largest cities; and completely eliminated the ability of locals to make decisions on everything from guns and wages to housing and plastic bags.
This year, the GOP approved a law to cut the size of the Nashville city council in half because of Music City’s decision to reject a proposal to bring the Republican National Convention to the state capital in 2024.
For those living outside the Volunteer State, the expulsion of state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, and sparing of Rep. Gloria Johnson, made clear that race was a deciding factor.
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How race has been a divisive factor
For almost as long as Republicans have been in power in the legislature, there have been issues involving race.
In 2010, a female lawmaker posted a photo on social media of her standing next to a pastor who was in blackface. “Aunt Jemima, you is so sweet,” former Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver wrote at the time. Over the years, other Republican legislators have used acronyms used by white supremacists, referred to Mexicans with a derogatory term, and repeatedly rejected efforts to remove a statue of the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan that spent more than 40 years on display in the state Capitol.
In 2020, a white judge-turned lawmaker said a Black legislator from Memphis was “getting the secret formula to Kentucky Fried Chicken.” When it became known that Gov. Bill Lee once wore a Confederate uniform when he was in college, the revelation barely caused a stir with Republicans in the legislature. Earlier this year, a Republican lawmaker expressed a desire to legalize lynching.
Despite the multitude of examples, Tennessee’s Republican leaders have rejected the notion that they are racist. The answer to that question is openly being debated today in light of the expulsions.
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Republicans don't blink at the national spotlight
Beyond the issue of race, the efforts to oust the Tennessee Three points to another issue facing the state today: unchecked power.
Last year’s abortion decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and Republicans full-throated embrace of the culture wars has thrust state legislatures around the country into the limelight in new ways. Suddenly, states with Republican supermajority status, like Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, are gaining attention for their envelope-pushing ways on issues involving guns, abortion, what is taught in schools and the LGBTQ+ community.
Conservative values were a hallmark of rural Democrats when they ran the legislature and those feelings have intensified since Republicans took over. But the GOP supermajority hardly blinks at being the subject of national attention or protests no matter the reason and embraces a grasp of Trump-style rhetoric that has all but eliminated reason from public policy debates.
For the latter, look no further than the state’s continual rejection of Medicaid expansion, any form of marijuana legalization or red flag laws, despite many GOP states doing otherwise.
History suggests Republicans’ dominance in Tennessee, though strong today, will not last forever. Any party that thinks it's infallible will see its members make mistakes or worse. Unrestricted political strength, mixed with headstrong members pushing limits, can create an environment in which illegal or questionable activity can run rampant.
And in recent years, there’s been signs of such.
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How the house of cards might fall
Since 2021, three Republican state lawmakers have been indicted for alleged illegal activity. One case centered on a bribery and kickback scheme involving former House Speaker Glen Casada. Another was a campaign finance conspiracy led by former state Sen. Brian Kelsey who unsuccessfully ran for Congress. Although the current majority will likely say the federal indictments were isolated instances of wrongdoing, the players involved were among the most vocal leaders in the statehouse.
There have also been repeated instances of sexual harassment or assault by members of the legislature, including former Sen. Paul Stanley and former Reps. Jeremy Durham, Mark Lovell, David Byrd, Rick Staples, and most recently Scotty Campbell. Despite the numerous examples, Republican leadership has brushed aside the notion that there is a systemic problem.
While Republicans’ moves to pushback on Nashville and Memphis and punish their representatives may be popular with the GOP’s base, feeling foolproof while flexing political muscle for the sake of the fight could portend larger problems – like the ones that led Democrats to fall out of favor in Tennessee.
Voters in 1979 elected Lamar Alexander as governor, after his Democratic predecessor, Ray Blanton’s term was plagued with scandals. A decade later, the statehouse was hit with more unscrupulousness when a federal investigation into illegal bingo operations netted several Democrats, including a rising star who was once thought to be a future gubernatorial candidate. In 2005, five former lawmakers were netted in a bribery sting.
Those instances of wrongdoing no doubt helped contribute to voters’ gradual embrace of the Republican Party.
The question now is whether Tennessee’s Republican leaders will continue down a path of trying to exercise unfettered power while believing they can do no wrong. While the debate over whether race was a factor in the expulsion of two Black lawmakers may continue, time will tell if the history books, and more importantly, voters will run out of patience with Tennessee Republicans.
Joel Ebert is a former statehouse reporter who covered the legislature for The Tennessean from 2016 to 2020. He is also co-author of “Welcome to Capitol Hill: 50 Years of Scandal in Tennessee Politics,” which will be released by Vanderbilt University Press in August 2023.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee politics: Republicans won't always have a supermajority
