Senator Johnson and Representative Reeves want to ensure voting remains convenient in county primaries. Why is their own county’s GOP chapter opposing them?

That type of voting would not be possible with a caucus or convention.¶

“I never thought I would have have to come to my own state in my own country that I have dearly loved and fight to stop voter suppression. I see no way around that that is not what this is. For reasons that I do not understand there is a drive-by small loud group in Tennessee that wants to cancel local primary elections,” said Shepherd. “Disenfranchising the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces by canceling any primary elections is dead wrong.”¶

Notably, one of the most outspoken opponents of the bill is the GOP party from the home county of both sponsoring lawmakers. The Williamson County Republican Party has provided multiple posts on its Facebook page against the bill including a call to action for members to oppose it on Tuesday that stressed the importance of the county party’s control of elections, as opposed to voters.¶

“This legislation interferes with the Williamson County Republican Party’s ability to choose its candidates to represent Republicans in local elections, including critical roles like School Board and County Commissioners,” wrote the party.¶

That same day, Williamson County Republican Party Vice-Chair Diane Chenard spoke against the legislation during the House State and Local Government Committee meeting. Chenard told committee members she believes the impetus for the bill came from her county party’s leadership elections earlier this year, when members voted in multiple Republicans supporting a change to a caucus format.¶

“This bill fails to protect Republican voters from ongoing illegal crossover voting in primaries and vice-versa. To illustrate the magnitude of the problem, of the roughly 33 thousand votes cast in Williamson County’s March 2024 primary, nearly 4 thousand were cast by Democrats,” said Chenard.¶

Representative Reeves pushed back in that meeting, saying lawmakers have been discussing changes like this for many years to ensure all voters have a chance to vote.¶

“I know that there is current discussion around trying to disenfranchise voters in various counties across the state and you know, what happens when we propose a bill is we see a potential problem and something that needs to get fixed and we propose it in a bill,” said Reeves.¶

The legislation passed the Senate on a 27 to 3 vote Wednesday and could see a vote on the House floor as early as next week.¶

Louallen’s Education Freedom Scholarship opposition and TEA endorsement have become key issues in the House District 78 Republican primary.