NASHVILLE - Tennessee's 11 Electoral College members formally cast their votes for President Donald Trump on Monday in a process notably calmer than four years earlier, when shouting protesters at times disrupted proceedings.
While Republican Trump handily carried Tennessee on Nov. 3 with 60.7% of the vote over Democrat Joe Biden, Biden nationally has won 306 electoral votes with 232 votes going to Trump. It takes 270 votes to be elected president.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, told the electors that he felt "privileged standing here at a historic moment in our nation" and that the republic's election process has made the country "the greatest nation in the world in part for what happens right here today, the fact that we are a government of the people."
The fact that the nation continues to "move from one elected official to another and another for generations is the very thing that sets us apart and makes us unique," Lee added.
Tennessee Republican electors were appointed by the Tennessee GOP's State Executive Committee with the concurrence of the Trump campaign. Electors individually represent one of Tennessee's nine congressional districts, while two others represent the entire state.
Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett told electors and spectators as they met in the state House chamber that "we have been through one of the most acrimonious elections that we have ever seen, and I hope it's the most acrimonious election we ever see."
Hargett added he hopes the nation will "avoid another one like this." Hargett said he spent the weekend talking by phone with people he disagrees with, adding, "I'm better for those discussions." He said he hopes others do the same and "grant a little grace and mercy to those around us."
"We need to bring civil discourse back to this arena," Hargett said, "and I don't see why it can't start in this room today. We need to find more ways to work together."
Asked by reporters later whether he now accepts Biden as president-elect, Lee said, "There's a process that I've talked about for some time, and we're in the middle of that process, and we'll see how that process plays out. This is part of the process, and we're in the midst of it, and we'll see where the process, the legal challenges, the Electoral College vote, where it all goes."
Retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Trump lost the election and needs to "put the country first."
Alexander observed that "the courts have resolved the disputes" by dismissing legal challenges filed by Trump and his allies in states, including Georgia, that he narrowly lost to Biden.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which was supported by 18 other Republican attorneys general including Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, that sought to block electors from four battleground states, including Georgia, from voting for Biden when the Electoral College meets.
Tina Benkiser of Chattanooga was the elector for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, which includes Hamilton and portions of Bradley County. Dr. John Stanbery of Cleveland was the elector for the 4th Congressional District, which includes part of Bradley and all of Rhea, Marion and Grundy counties.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.