Veteran Tennessee senators seeking reelection this fall are running into challengers who question their conservative credentials, calling them soft on red-meat Republican issues such as abortion and transgender care.
The Republican-controlled state Senate banned abortion except in cases when a mother is on the brink of death, outlawed gender-affirming care for trans youths and largely backed private-school vouchers this year as part of Gov. Bill Lee’s plan to use state funds to allow students to enroll in private schools.
Yet incumbents are facing opponents who contend they haven’t gone far enough, creating a situation in which Republican primary voters will decide whether the party has reached a tipping point or whether a new group should replace establishment Republicans.
Sen. Ferrell Haile, of Gallatin, who is part of Senate leadership as speaker pro tem, is facing Chris Spencer, a former Hendersonville alderman candidate and co-founder of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans, in District 18. Sen. Becky Massey, of Knoxville, is drawing a challenge from businesswoman Monica Irvine in District 6. And in District 4 in upper East Tennessee, Sen. Jon Lundberg, chair of the Senate Education Committee, is facing Bobby Harshbarger, the son of U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, in a race roiled by allegations of illegal campaign coordination.
Middle Tennessee State University political science professor Kent Syler said Republican primaries will keep cycling further right until the strategy fails.