A pensive Rev. James Lawson at Vanderbilt University in May. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Campaigns and Elections
The midterm election year brought new congressional and legislative districts after a once-a-decade redistricting process that, for the first time, carved Davidson County into three congressional districts. Gov. Bill Lee easily won reelection to a second term and Tennessee Republicans coasted to wins in congressional and legislative races.
Dr. Jason Martin, the Democratic nominee for governor, was at a few Shelby County site on Tuesday. Politicians and voters head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn. (Photo By Karen Pulfer Focht/ Tennessee Lookout)
U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles gives his victory speech on Election Night, November 8. 2022. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn speaking at The Factory in Franklin on November 7 during a campaign rally for Gov. Bill Lee. (Photo: John Partipilo)
U.S. Rep. Mark Green blew out the candles on a birthday cake on Election Day, November 8. Green won reelection to the 7th Congressional District despite gaining a large portion of Davidson County. (Photo: Nick Fantasia)
Democratic Sen.-elect Charlane Oliver, said "It shouldn't be this hard to vote in Tennessee," at a November 2 press conference to protest a voting snafu in Davidson County. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Andrew Towle prayed for strength to be given to Gov. Bill Lee on Nov. 7, 2022. Lee won reelection by an almost 40% margin of victory.(Photo: John Partipilo)
Civil Rights Leaders
The Civil Rights Movement has a long history in Tennessee, from Nashville’s lunch counter sit-ins of the early 1960s to the 1968 garbage strikes in Memphis that culminated with the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King. Two leaders of the early Movement returned to Nashville in 2022, revisiting sites central to their activism. Rev. James Lawson, who studied the principles of nonviolent protest under Mahatma Gandhi in India before in turn teaching them to students at Fisk University, Tennessee State University and American Baptist College, came to Vanderbilt University for the launch of an institute established in his name. Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1960 for his activist.
One of Lawson’s protege’s, Rev. Bernard LaFayette was a student at American Baptist College and roommate to the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. Lafayette, who led the Selma, Alabama voter registration campaign and later served as president of American Baptist College, spent a November weekend in Nashville to revisit the college and preach at his former church.
Rev. James Lawson, who was expelled from Vanderbilt University Divinity School in 1960, speaks at the unveiling of a his portrait at Vanderbilt in March 2022. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Rev. James Lawson speaking at Vanderbilt University on March 30. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Rev. Bernard Lafayette, Jr. with his son, Bernard Lafayette, III at Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The plaque on the front door of the late Rev. Will Campbell's Mt. Juliet writing cabin reads, "Thar he," the words spoken by the uncle of Emmitt Till in a Mississippi courtroom to identify the boy's murderers. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Bernard and Kate Lafayette in the "writer's cabin" on the farm of the late Rev. Will Campbell, a white Southern Baptist minister active in the civil rights movement. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette and his wife, Kate Bulls Lafayette, leave American Baptist College in Nashville on Friday after a visit to see renovations. (Photo: John Partipilo)
National politics come to Tennessee
National political figures rolled through the Volunteer State, with perhaps the largest congregation at the June Faith and Freedom “Road to Majority” event at Nashville’s Opryland Hotel: Former President Donald Trump headlined the event, which also featured Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and both of Tennessee’s U.S. Senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. Meanwhile, Democrats including Vice-President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigeig made stops, with Buttigeig addressing infrastructure in Memphis.
5th Congressional District Republican nominee Andy Ogles joined Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in Franklin on October 26, as part of Cruz’s “Truth and Courage PAC” tour. (Photo: Holly McCall)
Vice President Kamala Harris presenting a diploma to a graduate of Tennessee State University in Nashville on May 7. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Nashville Mayor John Cooper and First Lady Jill Biden, October 22, during a pop-up COVID vaccine clinic. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Former President Donald Trump dances during his speech June 17 at the Faith and Freedom "Road to Majority" conference at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Former President Donald Trump, photographed by John Partipilo on June 17 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
Legal woes
Political corruption caught up with several Tennessee lawmakers, as former Speaker of the House Glen Casada, Rep. Robin Smith Sen. Brian Kelsey—all Republicans—were indicted for charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the federal government, wire fraud and kickbacks, while Democratic Sen. Katrina Robinson was expelled from the Senate for violating the chamber’s ethics policy for two felony convictions.
Former Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada, center, leaves the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in Nashville on August 23 after being arraigned on 20 counts of conspiracy. Casada is flanked by attorneys Ed Yarbrough, left, and Jonathan Farmer. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Former Sen. Katrina Robinson in the Tennessee Capitol, shortly before her colleagues in the Tennessee Senate voted to oust her on February 2. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey exits the federal courthouse in Nashville after pleading guilty on two federal counts on November 22. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Lawyers for Hunter Hollingsworth argue the placement of surveillance equipment on Hollingworth’s land by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is in violation of Tennessee’s Constitution. Hollingsworth won his case; the TWRA lost. (Photo: John Partipilo)
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Working as a photojournalist for 40 years, Partipilo has won awards such as NPPA Best of Photojournalism and nominated for two Pulitzers. His photography has also been featured in national and international publications. Most importantly Partipilo’s work is about people — people in their different environments and people in their different stages of life. That’s the heart of his work. To him people are so important, because they all have a unique story.
Holly McCall has been a fixture in Tennessee media and politics for decades. She covered city hall for papers in Columbus, Ohio and Joplin, Missouri before returning to Tennessee with the Nashville Business Journal. Holly brings a deep wealth of knowledge about Tennessee’s political processes and players and likes nothing better than getting into the weeds of how political deals are made.
