NASHVILLE — Republican lawmakers’ battle over who will become Tennessee’s next state House speaker is drawing tea party conservatives and gun-rights activists into the fray.
A number of them are calling or e-mailing GOP lawmakers in support of Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, of College Grove, who faces Rep. Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, in the speaker’s contest.
“We must stop Beth Harwell with all of our collective efforts,” said Mark Skoda of the Memphis Tea Party in a recent e-mail to fellow activists.
In the e-mail, he referred to Harwell, a former state Republican Party chairwoman, as a RINO, a derisive term meaning “Republican in name only.”
Meanwhile, in an e-mail to gun-rights activists, the influential president of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris, pointed out Casada’s support of two significant handgun-carry permit bills in 2009 and 2010. One was the so-called “guns in bars” bill that allows permit holders to go armed in establishments selling alcohol for on-premises consumption, including bars and nightclubs, provided they do not drink.
Gov. Phil Bredesen vetoed it, but Harris said Harwell supported the veto “against removing restrictions on your constitutional rights.” Harris stopped short of actively endorsing Casada.
Efforts to contact Harwell and Casada were unsuccessful Thursday.
In an interview with the online news site Tennessee Report, Harwell said, “I have a very strong record of being pro-gun and pro-amendment rights. There has been one exception in all the years I have been there. I have voted 100 percent with them except for that one last bill, which was guns in bars.”
In last week’s elections, Republicans picked up 14 seats and won a whopping 64-34 majority over Democrats in the 99-member House. In 2008, Republicans won a 50-49 majority, only to see the speakership slip through their fingers when all 49 Democrats joined with Rep. Kent Williams, I-Elizabethton, and elected him speaker.
The GOP threw Williams out of the party and he is now an independent. Williams has endorsed Harwell, which some Republicans have used to criticize her.
In an interview, Skoda softened his e-mailed remarks, noting he did not intend it as “antagonism to Beth Harwell per se. … But I think there are some questions with regard to her votes on gun rights in particular.”
Skoda said Harwell’s district includes a large percentage of Democrats and “she has had to take some votes that are more reflective of her constituents.”
Chattanooga Tea Party President Mark West said he sees Casada as “more of a tea partylike conservative,” while Harwell is “more of the moderate-style Republican.”
The Chattanooga Tea Party members are expected to discuss the speaker’s race next week in their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. West said he wasn’t sure if the group will make any sort of official endorsement, but added that members are free to do what they wish.
Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, thought about running for speaker but last week announced he is supporting Casada.
Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, said he is “just keeping my options open” in the speaker’s race.