This is my personal call for legislative and local conservative action as the Hamilton County legislative elections will be the next primary hijacked by a concerted left weaponized with a viable recipe to upend Republican primaries. The local left is condoning their deceitful hijacking of the Republican Primary, with the help of an out of ink newspaper suggesting that “we just move on,” “sour grapes”, “sore losers,” “how dare you question crossover votes,” and “Weston just reached across the aisle.”
Candidates, it absolutely matters how you arrived to hold the office, as behavior during a campaign is indicative of how you will perform in office.
The candidates are representing the Republican Party as their bona fide candidates. Did the candidates participate in recruiting crossover votes to upend the Republican Primary? This is a reasonable question for Republican Primary voters that were canceled and suppressed by concerted crossover Democrat voters.
The Democrat peddlers of victimhood who cry voter suppression at every turn just suppressed thousands of bona fide Republican voters in the May 3rd Republican Primary. The hypocrisy of the left clearly has no bounds. Voter suppression is the act of intentionally silencing and canceling bona fide voters.
The local left writes endlessly suggesting that Republican primary voters, 26,000, that did not vote for the winner, just accept their primary was hijacked and move on. That is not going to happen as the request for a Republican ballot at the polling location is in fact a legal declaration of party affiliation, and it is therefore a deceitful act to vote in a primary for the intended purpose of silencing, suppressing, and canceling bona fide Republican Primary votes. This primary is a call for election law amendments.
Clearly, the gatekeepers of primary integrity, 1) Election Commission, 2) Republican Party have failed miserably to protect the Republican Primary and independent conservative voters from a concerted and deceitful act that called upon the opposing party members to upend a conservative primary. It was the duty of the Election Commission and the Republican Party to notify primary voters they were declaring allegiance to the primary ballot they chose as a matter of election law.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-115(b), which provides that:
“A registered voter is entitled to vote in a primary election . . . if:
(1) The voter is a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote; or
(2) At the time the voter seeks to vote, the voter declares allegiance to the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote and states that the voter intends to affiliate with that party.”
I have read so much nonsense written by local Democrats attempting to justify their deceitful participation in the Republican Primary, some even suggesting that Tennessee has a “general primary.” That is absolutely untrue. The Republican Primary was upended by opposing party members.
Hamilton County local legislative Republican delegation, please act immediately to amend primary rules to require a runoff election, as only 14,000 voted for the winner, and 26,000 voted for two other candidates. The outcome does not represent the will of a majority. The city of Chattanooga has a run-off election to ensure that their mayor and City Council represents the will of a majority of voters. A Republican Primary runoff is warranted, and updates of primary rules are grossly overdue.
Secondly, the state of Tennessee needs to evolve to party or independent voter registration as conservative votes will continue to be suppressed by a deceitful left working in a concerted manner to cancel, suppress, and silence conservative votes. Until one or both of the voting law amendments occur, there will never be a genuine Republican Primary again, as the deceitful left will act again to turn their sights onto all Republican Primary races.
Currently, for a candidate to appear on a Republican Primary ballot, the candidate must be verified as bona fide by the local party through their primary voting record, and only after verification may a Republican candidate appear on the primary ballot. The notion that the opposing party members can crossover and select the Republican Party candidate is absurd beyond comprehension. Either we have a Republican Party Primary, or we don’t. Perhaps it is time to abolish the false primary elections in Tennessee, if not enforced through party or independent registration, such as the states of Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and many more.
Introduction To State Legislators:
The May 3, 2022 Primary of Hamilton County, Tennessee is notable for history making, and extraordinarily low Democrat Primary ballot participation when compared to prior primary cycles for the last 20 years. The Democrat Primary participation was record making low at 12.5 percent. Further, a professional analysis acquired from a primary candidate indicates that 19.5 percent of total ballots cast throughout the early voting period and absentee submittals for the same early voting period in the Republican Primary ballot originated from voters with historical Democrat ID classification. A Democrat ID is established from a voter’s choice of primary, and historical pattern of party primary participation.
Professional analysis of the early voting period shows that approximately 3,030 crossover Democrat ID voters crossed over to participate in the Republican Primary. The impact of Democrat crossover voting was monumental in the Republican primary, and further data of the entire election will show that approximately 29 percent of the entire Republican primary were Democrat or crossover votes.
Again, the primary voters are declaring allegiance with the opposing party through the act of ballot selection process. Legislative intervention is called upon to enact new law that ensures that traditional Republican and independent conservative voters are not suppressed or canceled by concerted Democrat crossover efforts to control the outcome of a Republican Primary. A call by an opposing party members to upend a primary is dishonest, therefore legislative action is called upon to intervene with appropriate new law.
What is a Tennessee Republican or Democrat Primary?
“A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Tennessee utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters must affiliate with a party at the primary polling location or declare their allegiance to the party.[1][2][3][4]”
The act of selecting a party primary ballot is a declaration of allegiance to a party. So, it is highly appropriate to examine how many historic Democrat party voters decided to take the plunge to become Republicans. That was not the call from the left side of the local newspaper on three occasions. Not at all, the call from the local newspaper was for Democrats to vote for Weston Wamp. The left side issued a call for deceitful voting behavior.
Historically low Democrat Primary party participation is one indicator of where the regular Democrat Primary voters were. As a side note, the local Democrats have a fantastic candidate in Matt Adams that they give no recognition to. Mr. Adams served our country for eight dedicated years, and has a career as a paralegal. Why do Democrats feel a need to support a Republican? It is truly perplexing.
2022 May, Party Primary, County Mayor Race
Total Votes Cast in Election 48,848 of 232,752 Eligible
Republican Ballots Cast: 40,764
Democrat Ballots Cast: 6,111
Percent Democrat Ballots of Total Votes Cast: 6,111/48,848 = 12.5 percent
2018 May, Party Primary, County Mayor Race
Total Votes Cast in Election 20,503 of 192,662 Eligible
Republican Ballots Cast: 11,729
Democrat Ballots Cast: 6,977
Percent Democrat Ballots of Total Votes Cast: 6,977/20,503 = 34.0 percent
2014 May, Party Primary, County Mayor Race
Total Votes Cast in Election 15,266 of 219,708 Eligible
Republican Ballots Cast: 5,858 EV + 11,289 Election Day = 17,147
Democrat Ballots Cast: 45EV + 4,020 Election Day = 4,065
Percent Democrat Ballots of Total Votes Cast: 4,065/15,266 = 26.6 percent
*There was not a Democrat Primary County Mayor Candidate on 2014 Democrat Ballot, yet Democrat participation in their primary remained high.
The lowest Democrat Primary participation in recent history. We know where these regular Democrat voters were.
An early voting professional analysis report I acquired from a Republican candidate indicates that about 19.5 percent of total ballots cast in the Republican Primary were from the early voting period alone, including absentee ballots submitted during the same period.
Documented Democratic ID Crossover Voting
Rally calls from Times Free Press newspaper (three editorials Sohn), Democrat Political Organizations (Clergy for one example) calling upon their Democrat ID members to crossover and claim Republican Party affiliation through ballot selection abounded.
It is a simplistic and reasonable expectation for candidates on a Republican ballot and local Republican voters to believe that a ballot titled “Republican Primary” is authentic with bona fide Republican candidates, and not vulnerable to electronic flash mob votes from an opposing party. The Democrat party voters often cry voter suppression, yet the Democrat voters have engaged in a strategic silencing of Republican voters in their party primary.
Beginning of Excerpted Professional Analysis Report
“For reference, here is the final summary of the party ballot breakdown countywide after 13 days of Absentee and Early voting:”
D 3,605 18.9%
R 15,507 81.1%
Non-Partisan 9 0.0%
19,121
“For reference, here is the final cumulative breakdown of where the Absentee and Early Voting ballots are coming by County Commission district:”
Overall Votes % of Overall Votes # of GOP Ballots % of GOP Ballots
District 1 2,070 11.0% 1,982 12.9%
District 2 1,576 8.4% 1,439 9.4%
District 3 2,549 13.5% 2,338 15.3%
District 4 989 5.2% 365 2.4%
District 5 1,862 9.9% 583 3.8%
District 6 1,370 7.3% 1,155 7.5%
District 7 2,357 12.5% 2,140 14.0%
District 8 1,017 5.4% 806 5.3%
District 9 2,046 10.8% 1,898 12.4%
District 10 2,180 11.6% 2,014 13.1%
District 11 857 4.5% 596 3.9%
New Voters 248 1.2% 191 77%
19,121 15,507
“Here is the final summary of where the crossover votes are coming from by County Commission districts as well as the final breakdown of the age demographic for these voters:”
Overall Crossover Votes % of Overall Crossover Votes
District 1 385 12.7%
District 2 252 8.3%
District 3 391 12.9%
District 4 150 5.0%
District 5 164 5.4%
District 6 323 10.7%
District 7 364 12.0%
District 8 153 5.0%
District 9 333 11.0%
District 10 366 12.1%
District 11 149 4.9%
3,030
Age Demo % of Crossover Ballots
18-40 13.1%
41-60 24.4%
Over 60 62.5%
End of Excerpted Professional Analysis Report.
In closing, either we have a genuine Republican Primary, or we don’t. Please state legislature, fix, amend, or abolish the Republican Primary. Obviously, the Republican Party winner is no longer determined by Republican or Independent conservative voters. It is past time to amend primary election law.
April Eidson
* * *
I wrote an article earlier stating that Mr. Wamp did not get a majority of the votes in the election. This was before I found out that the Democratic party voted in large numbers in a Republican Primary.
Now I read the article by Ms. Edison with more information regarding the election and its misgivings. Thank you Ms. Edison for the information.
I am sure that promises were made to get these votes. I wonder what they were?
Well, it's time for the leaders of the Republican Party to step up. This can be fixed and it should be. So, all you big talkin' Republican leaders, step up. Lets see whaca got. Lots of people will be waiting.
Ernie McCarson
* * *
Let me start by saying that I voted for Matt Hullander in the Republican primary. Prior to this election outcome I had never heard of the term “bona fide” Republican or Democrat but I am no political expert or do I care to be and have always believed you simply vote who you feel is best suited for the job.
Somehow before I ever clicked on this article I already knew who the author was going to be. While sitting back watching the election results roll in I couldn’t help but chuckle thinking about what Ms Edison and all the big developers who poured money into the other two campaigns must be thinking.
Ms, Edison, the article you just wrote has provided people with a lot of information that many including myself did not know prior to this election but somehow when I try to read through it, all that keeps popping up in my head are the articles that you wrote previously attacking Mr. Wamp prior to the election. Obviously you have some sort of problem with him or his family personally.
I knew for a fact that you would not be able to sit back and accept the election results as they were and not be able to resist having to write some kind of opinion piece. I have just been sitting back patiently waiting for it and was actually super surprised it took this long.
I did notice in your article that you mentioned the city of Chattanooga has run-off elections to get a majority vote and I think that is a fabulous idea but with that being said guess what goes along with that.. you guessed it no political affiliation for those candidates. So let’s go ahead and do away with the party affiliation when you implement the run-off election portion and that solves this whole debate for yourself and Sabrena. Remember you can just take the half that benefits you.
Finally I would just like to congratulate the winner and state that Mr. Wamp if you won this election by actually putting your boots on the ground and knocking on doors in St. Elmo, Alton Park, East Chattanooga and Highland Park then kudos to you sir. That is exactly what this community needs is somebody who is willing to work with all the citizens of Hamilton County regardless of their political affiliation. Shame on the others if they failed to do that and it cost them the election.
If for some crazy reason we have another election or a “run-off” just know my vote will now be cast for Mr. Wamp thanks to Ms. Edison and her opinion pieces. Sir, please follow through with your vocational promise. I think you can do amazing things with that program.
Jarred Montieth