Votes for Women in Tennessee

Thursday 5 April 2012 - Filed under Uncategorized

Today was the filing deadline for candidates intending to run for the Tennessee House and Senate in 2012. This has been a particularly brutal year in the Legislature given that GOP-dominated redistricting has focused on getting rid of as many Democrats as possible, and most particularly Democratic women. This, combined with a legislative agenda that mirrored a national attack against women’s health, only made the loss of the few representatives who might speak for the interests of women in Tennessee even more threatening.

State elections are not typically well-promoted affairs. The average voter might be able to tell you who they’re voting for as President and why, but not enough coverage is given to State representatives, considering our votes are more likely to sway those races and those elected will likely have more of an impact on our lives once they are voted into office (State laws matter!). Particularly for Tennessee Democrats in 2012, they do not even have a strong State-level Party apparatus to direct interested voters their way. For example, during the 2010 midterms when the GOP took overwhelming control of the Legislature, the TNDP failed to provide a comprehensive list of Democrats running for House and Senate seats on their website, much less accurate contact information for their campaigns. Finding these candidates and giving them support was much more difficult than it should have been (if not impossible!) even at the State Party level. Furthermore, the TNDP leadership have threatened the seats of several strong progressive women after redistricting by primarying them against Democratic men.

This year, it is more important than ever that we rally our support behind the candidates willing to run, sometimes in very difficult Districts, so that they can provide us a voice in the political process during the elections and beyond in defeating bad laws and perhaps even making some good ones. It’s not enough that we merely vote for the best candidates in our Districts. Frankly, many of us no longer have that option as progressive Tennesseans. In addition to exercising our franchise we can, though, give our support to Tennessee candidates outside of our Districts who will nonetheless cast their votes in agreement with our values. Different candidates will have different needs (ask them how you can help the most if you’re unsure) but even if it’s as simple as a small donation, we can help our kindred lead our State to a better place in the coming years.

To this end, I’m providing the following list of Democratic women candidates (there were no Independents) with the best background information I could find. Why only women and not also the men? Because women are grossly under-represented, for starters, and that needs to change, but also because so many Democratic men tend to vote with the Republicans when it comes to issues particularly important to women. I do not call these “women’s issues” because there is no such thing. Laws for equal compensation and access to effective birth control, to name a couple examples, should be equally important to men, but are unfortunately quite frequently NOT. It’s even worse when Republican women betray their sex in order to garner the approval of Republican men. I cannot guarantee every woman on this list is pro-choice, for example, but I plan on writing to them to find out before I offer them my direct support. In the meantime, I’ll be glad to also support any male candidates who align themselves with progressive values, but my first concern is getting more women – who I can rely on to protect other women – into elected office.

The world is run by those who show up, and decisions are made by the people in the room. Tennessee holds the proud distinction of being the state which ratified the 19th Amendment, recognizing the right of women to be in that room. It is important during this time when women are under a coordinated political attack that we come together as women to defend ourselves. I hope this list will be a jumping-off point for many of us to coordinate our efforts as we facilitate getting and keeping more of our sisters in the Legislature. If we cannot rely on the Democratic Party to get it done, we must do it for ourselves at the grassroots level. We are women. We are already very good at this.

The Gentlewomen of Tennessee:

House D03 – Leah R. Kirk of Bristol in Sullivan County
House D07 – Nancy Fischman of Johnson City in Washington Co
(running against Rep. Matthew Hill)
House D11 – Marjorie Ramsey of Newport in Cocke County
House D13 – Gloria Johnson of Knoxville in Knox Co
House D23 – Peggy Hall Wall of Niota in McMinn Co
House D25 – Flo Matheson of Crossville in Cumberland Co
House D28 – JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga in Hamilton Co
(running against a Democratic man)
House D30 – Sandy Norris Smith of East Ridge in Hamilton Co
(running against two Democratic men)
House D40 – Sarah Marie Smith of Carthage in Smith Co
(running against a Democratic man)
House D45 – Jeanette Jackson of Hendersonville in Sumner Co
(running against Rep. Debra Maggart)
House D54 – Brenda Gilmore of Nashville in Davidson Co
House D58 – Mary Pruitt of Nashville in Davidson Co
(running against Steven Turner)
House D59 – Sherry Jones of Nashville in Davidson Co
(running against Councilman Bob Duvall)
House D78 – Linda Hayes of White Bluff in Dickson Co
House D78 – Jane Crisp of Pegram in Cheatham Co
(ten total candidates in this race)
House D81 – Conneye Albright of Millington in Tipton Co
(school librarian; running against a Democratic man)
House D86 – Barbara Cooper of Memphis in Shelby Co
House D87 – Karen Camper of Memphis in Shelby Co
House D90 – Jeanne Richardson of Memphis in Shelby Co
(running against two Democratic men)
House D91 – Lois M DeBerry of Memphis in Shelby Co
House D92 – Ann Bankston of Fayetteville in Lincoln Co
House D92 – Anita Tipton of South Pittsburgh in Marion Co
House D92 – Vicki Cain of Lewisburg in Marshall Co
House D92 – Mary Rene Baxter of Lewisburg in Marshall Co
Senate D06 – Evelyn Gill of Knoxville in Knox Co
(running against a Republican woman)
Senate D18 – Maria A. Brewer of Hendersonville in Sumner Co
Senate D26 – Meryl Rice of Whiteville in Hardeman Co
(running against Sen. Delores Gresham)
Senate D30 – Beverly Marrero of Memphis in Shelby Co
(Running against Sen. Jim Kyle)

2012-04-05  »  admin