Constitutional Republicans Make Endorsements

 The Sumner County Constitutional Republicans have announced endorsements in races for County Commission, School Board, County Mayor, and Judge.

Here are the candidates the so-called "true conservatives" are backing: 

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Sumner Democrats Host Candidate Training - December 4th

 From the SCDP:

Join us this Saturday, December 4th at 10 am at 333 W Main St. Suite F, Gallatin, TN to learn more about how local elections work and how to support your community as a candidate or volunteer to a campaign or the party.

We look forward to seeing you there!

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Sumner County Doubles Number of County Commission Districts

 The Portland Sun reports that the Sumner County Commission voted to double the number of County Commission districts from 12 to 24. That means each district will now have one commissioner instead of two and each commissioner will represent about half of the population currently represented. 

The Sumner County Commission voted 16 to 8 on Nov. 15 to double the number of county commission districts from 12 to 24. However, the total number of commissioners will remain the same, meaning each district will have one elected official instead of two.

It’s the first major change of the legislative body in more than 50 years.

The vote on Nov. 15 culminated the county’s redistricting process – a requirement of legislative bodies every 10 years following a federal census in order to make sure citizens receive equal political representation.

Sumner County’s population grew by about 20 percent between 2010 and 2020, according to recent U.S. Census data. At 196,281 residents, Sumner is the state’s eighth largest county.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Gubernatorial Candidate Jason Martin Brings Tennessee Thrives Tour to Hendersonville

 Tennesseeans, we want to hear what you're looking for from your next governor! Starting September 9th, we're launching the Tennessee Thrives Tour! We will be traveling to all Tennessee's 95 counties in 95 days and hosting listening tours.

When: Wednesday, November 3 at 9 am
Where: La La Lounge (750 W Main St, Hendersonville, TN 37075)

The Tennessee Thrives Tour is designed to connect Tennesseans with the campaign and provide an opportunity for dialogue on the type of leadership Tennesseans believe will best serve our state.

Afterward, Dr. Martin and our campaign team will take the thoughts and suggestions from the tour to craft a policy platform.

Out of an abundance of caution, the campaign staff and team are taking extra precautions during planning to mitigate the spread of the COVID19 pandemic.

Contact info@martinfortn.com to RSVP and send us your questions.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Election Safety in the Age of COVID-19

Some recommendations via Hana Ali, Chair of the Sumner County Democratic Party.

*Expand early voting by increasing the number of polling locations and extending polling hours.

*Expand access to absentee ballots.

*Give all voters an option to safely vote by mail. This is the best way to preserve and protect our right to vote. It reduces hurdles faced by elderly, disabled and sick people to effectively participate in the democratic process. During this Coronavirus pandemic no one should be asked to choose between their safety and their right to vote. All registered voters must receive a mail in ballot.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Got news? Email us: newshendersonville@gmail.com

August 2020 Candidates

Sumner County School Board seats are up in the August election as well as the primaries for some state offices. Effectively, though, the General Election matchups for state House and Senate races were set with yesterday's filing deadline.

Here's who is running for what in 2020:

School Board

District 2 -- Tim Brewer

District 4 -- Sarah Andrews

District 6 -- Ginny Hall Plunkett
                     Betsy Hawkins

District 8 -- Kyle Robinson
                     Ted Wise 

District 10 -- Glen Gregory

State House District 40 

Terri Lynn Weaver (R) -- incumbent
Paddy Sizemore (I) 

State House District 44

William Lamberth (R)

State House District 45

Johnny Garrett (R)

State Senate District 18

Ferrell Haile (R)  -- incumbent
John Gentry (I)


For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Trump, Democrats Fail to Inspire Voter Turnout in Sumner

Despite a crowded field of Democrats and an incumbent President still popular in Tennessee, voter turnout in Sumner County for the March 3rd Presidential Primary was significantly lower than in the same election in 2016.

The Hendersonville Standard reports:

Less than 20 percent of Sumner County’s registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s Presidential Preference and Sumner County primary election, held March 3.  

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the county’s Democratic nomination for U. S. President with 42.96 percent of the vote. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came in second with 24.71 percent, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came in third with 14.69 percent of the Sumner vote. In all, 11,630 Sumner voters cast ballots for candidates in the Democratic primary. 

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump won his party’s nomination in Sumner with 97.25 percent of the vote. Rep. Joe Walsh, who dropped out of the race a few weeks ago, received less than one percent, as did former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. In all, 10,148 Republicans voted for the presidential nominee in Sumner County. 

Turnout was around 30% in 2016, when the Democratic field had all but narrowed to Hillary Clinton and the GOP field was essentially Trump, Kasich, and Cruz. 

Democrats did edge Republicans in overall turnout, with over 11,000 Democrats voting compared to 10,000 on the GOP side. 

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Black Backs Challenger to Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver

The Nashville Post reports that former Congressman Diane Black is backing County Commissioner Luke Tinsley in his challenger to 40th district state representative Terri Lynn Weaver.

State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) has drawn a Republican primary challenger in Sumner County Commissioner Luke Tinsley, and one of the district’s most prominent Republicans is behind him.

Former U.S. Rep. Diane Black, who ran for governor in 2018 and lives in House District 40, has endorsed Tinsley, who worked for Black in the past. 

Tinsley voted against funding for a teacher pay raise as well as the funds that would support improving the Sumner County Jail, building a new courthouse, and working to improve roads. While every teacher in Sumner County will see an increase in their paychecks come January 15th of this year, they should also know Tinsley stood in opposition to the funds necessary to make that raise possible. 

Black has long been a supporter of candidates for local elected office who oppose school funding initiatives. 

Local Parent Group Gets National Attention

Local education advocacy group Strong Schools has gained national attention for their use of Facebook to organize a campaign to change the Sumner County Commission.

A story appeared at Huffington Post detailing the group's effective use of social media in the 2014 elections.

The story noted:

Social media was also huge for getting out the vote. We made people care by showing them how much these issues mattered and making them believe things could change. In 2000, voter turnout was 4,000 citizens. This time, we had 13,000 come to the polls.
And the result? All 13 candidates endorsed by Strong Schools PAC won their races in the Republican Primary. We even beat three incumbents, and gave the "good ol' boy system" the boot. It's a whole new day in this county.

McKamey to Visit Sumner on Monday

Democratic Gubernatorial candidate John McKamey will visit Sumner County on Monday, May 19th.  He'll be available for a meet and greet at 6 PM at the Sumner County Democratic Party Headquarters on Long Hollow Pike in Gallatin.

McKamey is a former educator from Sullivan County who also served a term as Sullivan County Mayor.  The baseball field at Sullivan East High in Bluff City is named for the former teacher and coach.

Rhetoric vs. Reality: Frank Freels Edition

Parent-led advocacy group Strong Schools released results from a survey of County Commission candidates.  The survey asked questions about where the candidates stand on issues related to Sumner County Schools.

A number of incumbent County Commissioners chose not to respond to the survey.  However, 4th District incumbent Frank Freels did respond.  Interestingly, his responses were at variance with some of his recent votes on the County Commission.

For example, on his list of priorities, he mentions that he wants to "continue to create safe school buildings that are a clean, nice environment for students and teachers to learn and work in."

This in spite of his votes against funding the school system budgets in 2011 and 2012. 

Not only did he oppose the initial budgets, his vote in 2012 to reallocated capital dollars to the school system's general fund meant that additions at Hendersonville and Gallatin high schools were delayed. That means more kids were in portable classrooms instead of fixed school buildings. 

On the issue of whether or not teachers and staff are paid appropriately, Freels notes he "Somewhat Disagrees" and calls for respectful compensation levels for teachers and support staff.

Here again, Freels' votes tell a different story.  Freels repeatedly voted to provide raises for County employees while denying the School Board the funds to give their employees raises.  He voted against initial school budgets in 2011 and 2012 that would have increased compensation for support staff. He voted to allow the County Insurance Trust to keep employee premiums artificially low while the insurance premiums for teachers continued to rise based on market rates.

Finally, Freels notes Dr. Phillips has done a great job communicating the needs of the school system.

And, while he may believe that, his County Commission votes have been consistently against funding the needs he is applauding Dr. Phillips for properly pointing out. Here's just one example.

If you're an incumbent with a voting record and you fill out a candidate survey, you should be sure your answers line up with the record.