NASHVILLE – Thirteen Republican lawmaker want state Supreme Court justices on Monday to ask candidates for Tennessee attorney general whether they would have joined other states in challenging the Affordable Care Act in 2011.
Many of those legislators are among conservatives who tried to unseat three Democratic justices in the Aug. 7 retention election.
The effort ultimately flopped, but it became the most expensive judicial election in Tennessee history as outside groups jumped in and spent heavily to oust Justices Sharon Lee, Gary Wade and Connie Clark.
Among those wanting the question posed about the Affordable Care Act lawsuit is Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, a leader in the effort to oust the justices.
A good part of the judicial ouster effort centered on conservative criticism of current Attorney General Bob Cooper, a Democrat and Chattanooga native who did not join the anti-Obamacare lawsuit filed by mostly Republican state attorneys general. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ACA’s constitutionality.