Rep. Timothy Hill clears GOP primary hurdle for Tennessee seat of lawmaker who resigned

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Rep. Timothy Hill cleared a Republican primary hurdle, setting up an Aug. 3 general election to keep the legislative seat he was appointed to after another lawmaker resigned over an ethics violation finding.

Hill appeared to handily defeat Republican opponent Stacy Vaughan in his special election primary Thursday in Republican-leaning District 3, according to unofficial results reported by the Tennessee secretary of state’s office. The Johnson County Commission appointed Hill, who had previously served as state lawmaker, to the seat representing northeastern Tennessee on an interim basis ahead of the primary election.

In the August election, Hill will face Democrat Lori Love, who ran unopposed in Thursday’s primary. The Associated Press did not tabulate the results for the election Thursday.

Hill served in the state House from 2012 until 2020 and rose to the position of majority whip. The Blountville lawmaker left his seat to run for an open U.S. House seat in 2020, but he lost in a crowded primary to current Republican U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger.

Republicans hold supermajorities in the Tennessee House and Senate.

The legislative district Hill seeks to represent includes all of Johnson County and part of Carter, Hawkins and Sullivan counties. The seat was left empty when former Republican Rep. Scotty Campbell resigned after a finding that he had violated the Legislature’s workplace discrimination and harassment policy.

Campbell resigned in April, hours after WTVF-TV asked him about the ethics finding. He told the Nashville TV station it was about “consensual, adult conversations with two adults off property” and that he would record any possible future conversations with interns.

The Tomahawk newspaper quoted Campbell apologizing “to my family, my friends, and those who misunderstood my intentions.”