VOTER GUIDESee a list of candidates, proposed amendments and sample ballots at timesfreepress.com/voterguide2014.Tennessee Amendments 101
Just because no president is being elected this year is no reason to skip Tuesday's elections. No less than U.S. senators, governors and all members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be elected, and in Tennessee several controversial constitutional amendments are on the ballot.
In Tuesday's election, the Chattanooga Free Press recommends:
* U.S. senator, Tennessee -- Lamar Alexander: The state's former two-term governor, University of Tennessee president and U.S. secretary of education deserves a third term to help craft policy as the ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a potential Republican Senate. Such legislation, he has said, might include making changes in Obamacare, speeding construction of the new Chickamauga Dam lock, reducing the federal student loan application form and returning more education decision-making to the state.
* U.S. senator, Georgia -- David Perdue: The former business executive wants to draw on his success as a Fortune 500 chief executive officer to help invigorate U.S. manufacturing, boost exports, craft a sensible domestic energy policy, return more local control of education and secure U.S. borders. In the open race, he more closely resembles the retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss than would likely President Obama rubber stamp Democrat Michelle Nunn.
* Governor, Tennessee -- Bill Haslam: The former Knoxville mayor has only token Democratic opposition but wants to follow a successful first term of education improvements, 70,000 new jobs, the inception of Tennessee Promise (free community college tuition for qualified high school graduates), the reduction of sales tax on groceries and a start on the elimination of the inheritance tax. His second term should, at a minimum, include medical/insurance help for those who would have benefited from Medicaid expansion.
* Governor, Georgia -- Nathan Deal: Under the leadership of the former North Georgia congressman, 300,000 new private-sector jobs have been created, the overall tax burden for residents has been lowered and the state was declared the country's No. 1 state for business in 2014 by CNBC. His opponent, state Sen. Jason Carter, has campaigned on education but opposed the state's current budget, which spends more money on education as a percentage of the total budget than any time in the state in the last 50 years, and never passed a bill while in the legislature.
* U.S. representative, Tennessee 3rd District -- Chuck Fleischmann: Seeking his third term, the attorney has fulfilled the wishes of many of his constituents in opposing the agenda of President Obama and his administration. Unfailingly conservative, he strongly supports Second Amendment rights and traditional marriage and opposes abortion. With his help, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund formula was changed, which may allow work on the new Chickamauga Dam lock to start sooner than it might have otherwise. He also has helped three new veterans clinics to open in the district.
* U.S. representative, Tennessee 4th District -- Scott DesJarlais: The South Pittsburg physician has weathered reports of a checkered past in his last election, state Sen. Jim Tracy in the August Republican primary and currently cancer. But district voters appreciate the way he votes in opposing President Obama and many of his radical policies.
* State representative, Tennessee 27th District -- Patsy Hazlewood: The longtime Chattanooga businesswoman has experience in the public and private sectors, has ties throughout the state and community, and is conservative on fiscal and social issues.
* Wine in groceries -- Yes: A "yes" vote allows wine to be sold -- starting July 1, 2016 -- in grocery stores within six municipalities in Hamilton County.
On the proposed amendments to Tennessee's state constitution, the Free Press recommends:
* Amendment 1 -- Yes: A "yes" vote would allow the state legislature to propose and vote on some common-sense and health-related regulations to abortions, regulations that are laws in many of the 50 states. A "yes" vote cannot end the federally constituted right to an abortion.
* Amendment 2 -- Yes: A "yes" vote adds a layer of legislative oversight to the current gubernatorial selection of state Supreme Court and appellate judges, who are then retained or rejected by the people.
* Amendment 3 -- No: A "no" vote keeps the state constitution from directly outlawing a state income tax. The state does not need such a tax, and we hope it never does. But a "no" vote leaves open the possibility if an unforeseeable fiscal emergency should arise.
* Amendment 4 -- Yes: A "yes" vote allows military-related organizations to offer certain games of chance in the same way other charitable organizations can currently offer them.