Tennessee

Editor’s notebook: A look at Tennessee’s primary election

Published

5 months ago

July 31, 2024

Editor’s notebook: A look at Tennessee’s primary election

(Getty Images)

As a news organization that exclusively covers politics and policy, the staff of the Tennessee Lookout lives for Election Days like Thursday’s primary. To use a sports analogy, it’s not quite the Super Bowl — that comes on the Nov. 5 federal election — but it’s at least the AFC and NFC championship games.

We’ll give you the lowdown on top of the ticket races, like the four-way Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate and the only contested congressional primary, the race between well-funded Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston and first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles.

Even for a statewide news outlet like the Lookout, covering every down-ballot race — 23 contested state House races and eight contested Senate races — is impossible. So we’ll be looking at the most competitive of each and the issues influencing the election.

We’d like to share our game plan for covering the election with you, and give you an overview of what you can expect from us.

School vouchers

After Gov. Bill Lee’s universal private school voucher plan failed during the last legislative session, he announced he would try again in the upcoming session. As Adam Friedman has reported, several national pro-voucher organizations have spent millions in “dark money” — the groups use a governing structure that allows them to hide who many of their donors are — to back incumbents and candidates favorable to vouchers.

Gov. Bill Lee

Lee has endorsed a host of pro-voucher incumbents and candidates, but the outcome of those races will be as much of a referendum on Lee as on vouchers.

Of particular note is the House 65 race, Lee’s home district in Williamson County. The governor has endorsed political newcomer Lee Reeves, who favors vouchers and has received nearly $1 million in outside support from voucher groups. Williamson County has the best public school system in the state, a reason many families live there.

Gov. Bill Lee with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Nashville on Nov. 28, 2023, for Lee's announcement he will push to provide private school vouchers statewide. (Photo: John Partipilo) — Gov. Bill Lee with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Nashville on Nov. 28, 2023, for Lee’s announcement he will push to provide private school vouchers statewide. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Brian Beathard, a four-term county commissioner backed by retiring Rep. Sam Whitson and a host of other Republican elected officials, has been less than full-throated in his views on vouchers, but a win by Beathard would be a loss for Lee’s credibility.

Hot Senate races

Gallatin Sen. Ferrell Haile is leaning into conservative talking points as he tries to beat back a challenge from Chris Spencer, co-founder of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans. Haile’s ads highlight immigration issues, which have little practical impact on Tennessee voters but appeal to the Republican base.

All political eyes are on the East Tennessee matchup between Sen. Jon Lundberg and first-time candidate Bobby Harshbarger, nephew of 1st District U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a Trump loyalist. The issue doesn’t appear to be school vouchers: Lundberg negotiated the Senate version of Lee’s plan.

The Lundberg-Harshbarger race has been one of the most hostile of the election cycle.

Meanwhile, in House races . . .

One of the more interesting primaries on the House side is the contest between GOP Rep. Patsy Hazlewood of Signal Mountain and challenger Michelle Reneau, a Constitutional Republican.

Democrats also have a few primaries in play, including the race in Memphis to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Dwayne Thompson in District 96. Gabby Salinas, who lost to former Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey by about 1%, has been endorsed by Thompson. But in a five-way, low turnout primary, she’s not a shoo-in.

Nashville’s House District 60 features a match-up between Shaundelle Brooks, a longtime gun safety advocate who came to politics after her son was murdered in a 2018 mass shooting at Nashville Waffle House, and neighborhood activist Tyler Brasher. The race has engendered bad blood between supporters of both candidates, as accusations of racism have been thrown — Brooks is Black — and questions raised about financial disclosures.
In Knoxville, Rep. Sam McKenzie, chair of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, will try to beat back a challenge from former Knox County Commissioner Dasha Lundy, who has received support from school voucher organizations.

Of course, there are other races we’ll cover. While we can’t get to them all, we promise to do our best to bring you fast and accurate coverage on the winners that will shape Tennessee policy over the next few years.

See you on Election Day.

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Titans vs Colts key moments: How Tennessee Titans lost to Indianapolis Colts

Published

1 hour ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Titans vs Colts key moments: How Tennessee Titans lost to Indianapolis Colts

The Tennessee Titans continue their December woes with a 38-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that was considerably worse than the final score line despite a fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

Indianapolis led 38-7 at one point in the third quarter after the Colts scored 38 straight, but 23 unanswered points by the Titans forced Indianapolis to run a four-minute offense to close the game out.

Tennessee (3-12) was done in by the Colts’ 24-point second quarter. Jonathan Taylor finished with 218 rushing yards and three touchdowns as Tennessee’s defense allowed 335 rushing yards overall.

Here are three key moments from the Titans’ Week 16 game:

Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts key moments

Scenario: Titans give Colts good field position after missed 53-yard field goal

Brayden Narveson’s first field goal attempt for the Titans, stepping in for the injured Nick Folk, was from 53 yards in the first quarter with the Titans leading 7-0 with 14:16 left in the second quarter.

Tennessee could have taken a 10-point lead. But Narveson’s kick was short and wide right, giving the Colts the ball near midfield.

The Colts drove down the field after the missed field goal, tying the game on an Anthony Richardson 5-yard touchdown run.

Scenario: Jonathan Taylor’s first touchdown run of the game gives Colts the lead

In a 7-7 game, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor took off for the first of several big runs on Sunday.

Taylor sprinted on zone left run, then cut back and sprinted for a 65-yard touchdown run with 7:25 left in the second quarter. Indianapolis took the lead and never looked back.

Scenario: Kenny Moore’s interception leads to a Josh Downs TD catch, Colts’ 24-7 halftime lead

Mason Rudolph’s telegraphed pass was picked off by Kenny Moore with 1:25 left in the first half, and the Colts quickly took advantage.

Josh Downs took a quick pass on a bubble route and raced past two Titans defenders for a 27-yard touchdown catch just before halftime. Indianapolis led 24-7 at the break, and the Titans’ woes continued.

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What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football's loss at Ohio State

Published

9 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football’s loss at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee’s path to the College Football Playoff had been paved with cold-from-behind wins.

On Saturday night at Ohio Stadium, the Vols didn’t have another comeback effort in them.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Hindered by an uncharacteristic performance from its typically reliable defense and injuries, No. 9 Tennessee fell behind three scores in the first half against No. 8 Ohio State and didn’t have the offense to make up for it, leading to a 42-17 defeat that ended its season.

The Vols (10-3) had been plagued by slow starts through the first half of the season, more often than not able to find enough life to win.

They did it against Florida, Alabama and Vanderbilt in the triumph that clinched their first-ever playoff berth.

But that kind of start proved costly vs. the Buckeyes (11-2), who posted more than 430 yards of total offense and never came close to giving up their lead.

If there was any positive that could have been gleaned from Tennessee’s performance, it was quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Iamaleava, at times during those stagnant starts looked very much like a freshman quarterback trying to find his footing as a now full-time starter.

In the second half of the season, though Iamaleava was more poised and the Vols’ began flourish on that side of the ball.

Tennessee didn’t flourish in many areas on Saturday. What small doses of momentum they found almost always involved Iamaleava.

He ran the ball 20 times for 47 yards, extending drive and rushing for both of the Vols’ only touchdowns.

Here is everything Iamaleava said about the performance.

On if he expected to run the ball 20 times

“I mean, 20 (carries). No, I did not expect to run that many times. Some shots that were there, and overall as a team we didn’t just execute the whole game plan, so got to be better.”

On what disappointed him most about the performance

“Just started off slow. We were supposed to come in, had a great game plan to come in and fire first, and they hit us in the mouth first. We were just trying to recover that whole game. First half I thought we did a great job of that, and second half coming in I thought we could have played at a way higher level than we did.”

On what team can take away from loss

“I think just use it as motivation. We’ve been putting in work since January to get to this point, and it sucks to go out that way because that’s not who we are. love this team. I love the team we have. Just the way tonight went was not the way we wanted it to go, and we’ll use that as fuel and motivation during this off-season to really hit it.”

On what Tennessee needs to do to beat better teams on the road

“I think that all just comes to executing on the road. Like I said, our coaches gave us a great game plan, and us as players, as the team, we’re the ones out there on the field playing, and we’ve just got to hold ourselves to a higher standard and execute at a higher level.”

On Dylan Sampson and Dont’e Thornton Jr. dealing with injuries, how it effected the game

“Shoot, at the end of the day, man, whoever is out there, whether it’s a freshman or not, we’ve got to be able to execute the same way with those guys or not, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight.“

On the difference between running an offense at home and on the road

“I would just say there’s a crowd noise that plays a factor in how we play. We can’t play as fast as we want to without tempo, and that’s really the biggest factor was crowd noise.”

On what personnel Tennessee can add to open up the offense

“Obviously in the off-season, me, Coach Joey, and Coach Heup are always have conversations about how we can excel this offense, and it’ll be that in the off-season, too.”

On large contingent of Tennessee fans that were at Ohio Stadium

“I love it. Man, I was so happy to see all the orange in the stands. It sucks the performance we gave out for them, but I hope they get home safe, man. I really appreciate their support.”

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Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee

Published

17 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee

The Ohio State Buckeyes’ loss to the Michigan Wolverines now feels like ages ago.

Ohio State went into its first-round College Football Playoff matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers with major question marks.

Will Howard was under fire. The play calling was in the crosshairs. Ryan Day’s job security had become a regular topic of discussion.

But then, the Buckeyes hammered Tennessee by a score of 42-17 to advance to the Rose Bowl for a chance for revenge against the Oregon Ducks.

Ohio State put together arguably its best performance of the season against a very tough Tennessee opponent. The Buckeyes scored 21 points in the first quarter, immediately sending a message to the Volunteers—and the country—that they meant business.

Howard, who looked like a deer in headlights in the regular-season finale against Michigan, stepped up with a significant performance. Yes, there was the red zone interception, but in the end, it was no harm, no foul (he probably shouldn’t do that against Oregon, though).

Jeremiah Smith looked every bit of the phenom we all thought he was heading into 2024. The defense was tremendous. Day? He coached a terrific game.

But the most impressive part of this showing by Ohio State was the resolve that it demonstrated, picking itself up off the mat after a soul-crushing defeat to the Wolverines earlier in the month.

I have to admit: I wasn’t sure if the Buckeyes had this in them. Not after they mustered just 10 points against a far inferior Michigan opponent, a game in which they were physically beaten up.

And considering that Tennessee’s defense was even stingier than Michigan’s this year, I certainly didn’t anticipate that Ohio State would drop 42 points.

Nevertheless, here we are.

A couple of weeks ago, it was beginning to look like the Buckeyes wouldn’t even have a chance against Oregon. Heck, there were some who felt that the Volunteers would beat them.

It wasn’t due to a lack of talent, either. It was more due to the thought that Ohio State lacked an identity and didn’t seem to have the mental fortitude required to win a national championship.

Remember: the Buckeyes also lost to the Ducks earlier in the season as a result of some mental erros and not being able to seal the deal.

So the concerns surrounding Ohio State heading into the College Football Playoff were legitimate.

But the Buckeyes appear to have flipped a switch, and it appears that their tenacity has finally matched their excessive talent.

Now, we’ll see if Ohio State can exact revenge on Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

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