NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The rules for who can run as a Republican in deeply red Tennessee are getting harder.
State Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said Friday that the GOP wants to remain welcoming to new supporters. But that doesn’t mean they should immediately be able to become Republican nominees come election time, he said.
“This isn’t saying that we don’t want people to be Republicans – this is the standard that we have for people wanting to get the Republican nomination to serve in public service,” Golden said.
In the little-noticed change to party bylaws approved this summer, candidates must now have voted in three out of the last four GOP state or federal level primaries to be considered bona fide Republican candidates. For candidates seeking to appear on next year’s ballot that will mean voting histories can be scrutinized going back to the August 2012 primary.
The previous standard was for candidates to have voted in two of the last four GOP primaries.