Three Tennessee candidates were removed by Tennessee’s Republican Party from the U.S. Congress ballot because they did not follow bylaws regarding voting frequency and residency terms.
According to the Tennessean: The Tennessee Republican Party voted Tuesday to remove three potential congressional candidates on the primary ballot for the 5th Congressional District. This included a Trump-backed candidate, whose campaign upset some political insiders.
According to the Tennessee Republican Chairman Scott Golden: Morgan Ortagus, Baxter Lee, and Robby Starbuck was voted off the primary ballot by the party’s executive committee.
The three Republican candidates were subject to official challenges last week. This resulted in a technical exclusion per the party’s bylaws from the ballot.
Ortagus and Lee made protestations but eventually accepted the decision by the committee. Starbuck was represented in court today by Harmeet, a super lawyer, and civil rights attorney. Leaks to NBC News suggest Tennessee”s GOP executive board’s actions may not have been on the up and up.
Starbuck claimed that amendments to one congressional candidate were approved by the SEC less than 24 hours after they kicked me off the ballot. Starbuck only had a handful of vouching letters, and he did not have the three primaries.
The plot thickens. It seems that Starbucks’ opinions were also leaked. They do not agree with the views of the statewide Republican body.
A tape was leaked. NBC asked me for my opinion. It is interesting to note that a member from the Davidson GOP stated to an SEC member: “Look, I’m going lie: Robby did more work for the Republican Party than I have ever done, and probably more than any of you.” Starbuck said.
“And the fact that they’re causing division in the party, you know?” They also said in the video that the Young Republicans chair from Nashville stated that I had brought the youngest Republicans members and volunteers than anyone else.
“And then, they said the exact same thing: They have never had so many donors or volunteers.”
Starbuck’s receipts show that he has been living in the 5th District since 2019 and has voted in four primary elections. petitions were filed to challenge the executive committee’s decision.
Starbuck emailed me a text response from one member of the executive committee:
“I voted because of the new state residency law. Starbuck stated that Lee had voted in favor of a Democrat.
Starbuck was also informed that its previous work as a music director for certain rap groups didn’t reflect “Republican” values.
He stated, “Then just like background wise. Some of the things that we heard were that, uh…you’ve known, there was a residency thing, but that also some members thought it was wildly inappropriate. ”
“Some people, um, watched the music video I directed, and decided they couldn’t vote for me.”
That’s ridiculous.
Clearly so.
They seem to enjoy this loyalty to the party’s seasoned follies, who have made it to the top of the party’s ranks while doing little else to promote republicanism. This shows how one can cut his nose to spite oneself.
The Tenn. Republican Party: We are taking defeat from the jaws of victory!
It’s not just about the “good ole boys”. Starbuck’s first U.S. District Judge was William L. Campbell Jr. but Judge Campbell was forced to resign as Beth Campbell, a member of the Tennessee Republican Party executive board, is his mother.
It’s backroom electioneering at its best.
The new judge is the Chief Justice of the Middle Tennessee Circuit Court. He is known for his ability to follow the rules.
Starbuck stated that “everyone we’ve spoken to has said that Starbuck is a stickler for procedure.” ”
“So, I think he could look at this and be able to, this is like reading tea leaves. It is amazing to think that he could see something like this and know that they didn’t follow the rules. They were supposed to notify me (yeah, certified mail for a period of two days) that I had two working days to appeal the decision. They didn’t.
They did not respond to my appeal but I appealed anyway.
No matter the outcome, it is the voters who backed and supported Starbucks that are being cheated. Starbuck agrees.
He stated, “Because that is very clear, it means you’re disenfranchising thousand here and you’re allowing an elected group of people to do that,”
It’s just a fad. Some people believe they can rule the voters.
Starbucks’ supporters called Tennessee’s Republican Party executive without prompting to voice their discontent.
Starbuck stated, “SEC members have turned off their phones because of phone calls”.
“This is just angry people looking to find the SEC numbers. It was a shame that they were getting so many calls. They have apparently received hundreds, if not hundreds, of calls.
While both Democrats and Republicans might be trying to influence the outcome of the midterms, both sides will be stunned.
