Politics
Election 2020: Live primary coverage
Get your Election 2020 primary coverage from the Tennessee Lookout, as we keep you posted on hotly contested races from East Tennessee’s Republican primary in Congressional District 1 to District 9 in Memphis, and General Assembly races in between.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper: Chief Anderson’s last day is Thursday
Nashville Mayor John Cooper drastically moved up the planned retirement of Police Chief Steve Anderson, announcing Thursday will be Anderson’s last day on the job, following the arrest of a homeless Black man for failing to abide by the city’s mask mandate. Anderson had been with the department for 45 years and served as police […]
Top Homeland Security official vows federal agents ‘will not back away’ from violent protest
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s number two at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday defended federal law enforcement officers’ intervention in protests in Portland, Oregon, and other cities this summer. Characterizing some of the protests as “mob rule,” Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told lawmakers that federal agents could exert force in […]
US House passes package to rescue child care industry
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House stepped in Wednesday to try to rescue the nation’s child care system from collapse under the weight of the pandemic. The chamber approved a pair of bills that backers say are needed to fully reopen the economy and shore up the child care industry in the longer term. The bills […]
Clarksville challenger targets veterans in race against incumbent Powers
State Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, has been representing state senate District 22 for just over a year, but he’s got opposition from fellow conservative Doug Englen, who is mounting a case for change. Powers has the benefit of name recognition and a lifetime of service to the community, but Englen comes offering a long military […]
Get in ‘good trouble’: John Lewis’ words ring out in Capitol one more time
WASHINGTON — The immortal words of the late civil rights leader John Lewis rang out from the U.S. Capitol Monday during a private ceremony in celebration of his life. “You must find a way to get in the way,” he said in a recording of a 2014 commencement speech he gave at Emory University. “You must […]
Column: Inbox Assault
With campaigns so thoroughly filtered through polls, press, pundits, and other words starting with p that will come to me eventually, sometimes it’s worth taking a step back, turning it all off, and looking at what candidates have to say directly to their supporters. In that spirit, then, comes the experiment in political self-harm I […]
Why Metro’s deal with the Sounds is a major hurdle for MLB to Nashville
As a group of business people ramps up its efforts to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville, a major obstacle stands in the way in the form of Metro’s current stadium deal with the Triple A Nashville Sounds. The New York Times and USA Today published stories in recent weeks about former baseball executive Dave […]
Senate Republicans pursue benefits pay cut for jobless; adjourn without action
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders slammed Republicans Friday for leaving in the lurch millions of jobless Americans who are relying on enhanced unemployment benefits to stay financially afloat amid ongoing public health and economic crises. Republicans in Congress and the White House were engaged in heated negotiations this week over the details of their party’s proposal […]
House passes bipartisan public lands bill; next stop president’s desk
WASHINGTON — Major environmental legislation sailed through Congress Wednesday while the nation’s political leaders were stuck in intense negotiations over the contours of a fifth coronavirus relief package. The bill would provide $9.5 billion over five years to pay down the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog and provide permanent funding at $900 million per year […]
The Blue Dog vs. the underdog: facing an activist challenger, Cooper makes appeal to “gettable” conservatives
Jim Cooper has regularly faced Republican opponents in November in the decades he’s been in Congress. He’s beaten them every time (except for an unsuccessful 1994 Senate run), he said, by appealing to moderate conservatives who would otherwise vote red. That’s how Democrats flipped the House of Representatives in 2018, he told The Lookout last […]
An interview with Nashville Mayor John Cooper
Before Nashville Mayor John Cooper helmed a city grappling in rapid succession with recovery from a destructive tornado, a historic pandemic and sweeping protests for policing reform, he was a candidate who campaigned on his expertise in the wonkiest areas of Metro government. A businessman and real estate executive, Cooper touted his experience in finance […]