Voters in Tennessee go to the polls tomorrow--yes, tomorrow--to pick a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. in the race to succeed retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
So why is Tennessee the only state to hold its primary on a Thursday? Beth Henry Robertson, the state's election counsel, pointed out to us that the state Constitution requires judges to face re-election every eight years on the first Thursday in August. It would seem then that someone at some point made the sensible decision to hold primaries on that day as well. But, we digress...
If anything, the race between former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, and former Reps. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary has vacillated between tedious and nasty. Bryant and Hilleary, who one GOP insider has dubbed "Brilleary," have been fighting for the conservative mantle while working to portray Corker as a tax-raising, abortion flip flopping, Democratic primary voting-disaster of a Mayor.
Apart from claiming to be the most devout conservative in the race, Bryant argues that he would be the strongest general election candidate. He
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.