Politics
Cohen: Police violence, voter suppression are 2 ‘sides to the same coin’
WASHINGTON — As demonstrators continue to flood streets around the country to protest police brutality and racial inequality, communities of color remain disproportionately threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic and voter suppression, a Tennessee Democratic lawmaker warned this week. The pandemic “has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, disproportionately impacting African Americans among other historically disadvantaged people,” Rep. Steve […]
TN Attorney General: excuse-free absentee voting has too much room for voter error and fraud
A Nashville judge will rule on Thursday whether to expand excuse-free absentee voting to any voter who requests a mail-in ballot after hearing arguments from the state and plaintiffs who say the expansion is needed because of the ongoing pandemic. An attorney for the Tennessee Attorney General said such an expansion of absentee voting would […]
Tennessee faith leaders react to Trump photo-op
Religious leaders from across Tennessee reacted to a White House tweet showing President Donald Trump’s response to protests that have rocked the country in recent days. The video displayed in the tweet shows President Trump walking toward and standing in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church while holding a Bible in front of the church’s […]
Gov. Lee interested in bringing GOP convention to Nashville
Gov. Bill Lee is interested in rerouting the Republican Nashville Convention from Charlotte, where the event has faced questions from Democratic political leaders, to Nashville this summer, a source confirmed to Tennessee Lookout. Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp President and CEO Butch Spyridon said he has not had any discussions with the GOP about moving […]
Nashville budget chair says lack of body cameras result of poor planning by former mayors
Nashville’s last two mayors hold responsibility for the city’s failure to purchase body cameras for police, a Nashville councilmember said over the weekend. Councilmember at Large Bob Mendes, chair of the Metro Council of Nashville and Davidson County’s budget committee, made the remarks in a Facebook live conversation about the city’s $2.45 billion budget with […]
Team Joe skateboards towards the White House
Use of the Internet has probably changed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic (Zoom, anyone?) but most Americans probably have not experienced anything nearly as profound as what Nashvillian Joseph Romano, 31, discovered recently while using social media. That’s because Joseph, who goes by Joe, learned while checking his Instagram account that voters across the country […]
Trump’s TVA nominees pressed on climate views, IG firings
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats grilled President Donald Trump’s nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority on Tuesday about climate change and the administration’s recent firings of top agency watchdogs. Trump nominated former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland to fill out TVA’s board of directors. The president also […]
Is Voting a Right or a Risk?
On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee said he will not allow expanded mail-in ballots. “What we want to do in this state is remove a reason to have fear about going to the polling booths,” Lee said. While planning to reopen the state is a complex undertaking, removing any fear of in-person polling is simple: Expanding […]
Update: DNC Member Owen: “I didn’t give money to McConnell”
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Lookout reported Bill Owen, a former state senator from Knoxville and one of four Tennessee members on the Democratic National Committee, survived a challenge from party officials that would have removed him from the DNC. Among the charges levied against him were his numerous contributions to Republican elected officials. Owen has […]
GOP Senate hopeful serves with his donors on White House panel
WASHINGTON — Tennessee Senate candidate Bill Hagerty is serving on a White House economic advisory panel alongside several of his highest-profile campaign donors. Hagerty — who served as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Japan until last July — was named by the president in April as a “thought leader” on the panel aimed at reopening […]
The Equity Alliance leaders make case for mail-in voting amid pandemic
Tennessee is one of 16 states that requires an excuse in order to vote by mail, a policy stance under increased scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit and nonpartisan Nashville-based Equity Alliance filed a lawsuit last week seeking to expand vote-by-mail because of the pandemic. Tennessee allows for mail-in voting if someone is ill, […]
COVID-19 spike in heavily immigrant communities tied to fear of ‘Public Charge’
A “heat map” released by Metro Nashville officials shows concentrations of COVID-19 cases in two Davidson County zip codes — 37211 and 37013 — that are home to many of the area’s immigrants. Some local advocates for the immigrant community say fear of the federal policy known as “Public Charge” is one reason for the […]