NASHVILLE – With Tennessee’s presidential preference primary getting more national notice than it has in decades, the state’s 1973 “sore loser law” has also gained a bit of attention, with conflicting opinions on how the law should be interpreted if a candidate decides to run as an independent in November.
Tennessee’s “sore loser law” says a candidate who loses in a party primary election is prohibited from running later in the same election year as an independent or as the nominee of another party.
Most recently on the national front, the online political news magazine Politico last week carried a story under the headline, “Why Tennessee will matter in 2016.”
“It’s not quite Iowa, but Tennessee – a state long ignored until much later in the cycle, and then often just turned to for donations – is now one of the biggest hubs for GOP political activity in the country,” declared the Politico report.
Donald Trump, center, speaks as Ben Carson, left, and Ted Cruz look on during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. 
Bernie Sanders, left, and Hillary Clinton speak during an exchange during the Democratic presidential primary debate Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) That’s in accord with the hopes expressed by state legislators when they voted almost unanimously in 2011 – after consulting with Republican and Democratic party officials – to move the primary date to March 1, a week earlier than in 2012 but somewhat later than the Feb. 5 primary in 2008. The dates have varied considerably since the first Tennessee presidential primary on May 4, 1972. Before that, Tennessee’s delegates were chosen in party caucuses.