Columbus
Tennessee Lookout
Harris’ possible running mates have record of securing reproductive rights post Dobbs
The Democratic Party kicked off its virtual roll call on Thursday to formally nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as its pick for the next commander-in-chief. Harris is expected to announce her running mate soon. Speculation over her vice presidential nominee has run rampant. States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C., bureau recently spoke with political experts who suspect Harris is […]
Harshbarger upsets veteran Sen. Lundberg in East Tennessee GOP primary
Big money couldn’t stop a Senate incumbent from suffering a loss Thursday in Tennessee’s Republican primary as the son of a U.S. congresswoman vaulted to victory in upper East Tennessee. In contrast, massive political action committee spending pushed a sitting senator to victory in Sumner County and enabled a Senate challenger to upset a veteran […]
Gloria Johnson wins U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, will face Blackburn in November
Knoxville state representative Gloria Johnson cruised to victory in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, setting up a matchup with incumbent Marsha Blackburn. The Associated Press called the race for Johnson less than 15 minutes after the polls closed as she led a field of challengers with 68% of the vote. Johnson launched her campaign […]
Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee Supreme Court should pay for state’s legal losses
These vices are becoming habits. Gov. Bill Lee and the Republican-controlled Legislature took another legal beating this week when a court panel ruled against their plan to cut the Metro Nashville Council in half, just one of their efforts to control the capital city. The Tennessee Supreme Court should pick up the tab for enabling […]
Report: Rural TN counties have most room for voter turnout, registration growth
Voter registration and turnout in Tennessee lags behind most other states in the nation, but a new report from a Tennessee think tank found that rural counties in particular have the most room for growth. Rural counties along the West-Middle Tennessee Grand Division line and in the northeast have the lowest average turnout rates over […]
Editor’s notebook: A look at Tennessee’s primary election
As a news organization that exclusively covers politics and policy, the staff of the Tennessee Lookout lives for Election Days like Thursday’s primary. To use a sports analogy, it’s not quite the Super Bowl — that comes on the Nov. 5 federal election — but it’s at least the AFC and NFC championship games. We’ll […]
Pro-school voucher groups spending tops $4.5 million in Tennessee Republican primaries
With one day left until Tennessee’s Republican primary, groups pushing for the adoption of a universal private school voucher program have poured record money into the state’s election. Two years ago, three pro-voucher groups set a then-record by spending around $1 million on independent advertisements to support or oppose candidates based on whether they favored […]
Panel rules against Tennessee lawmakers, allowing Nashville to keep its 40-member council
Nashville can keep its 40-member Metro Council size intact after another court panel ruled against Tennessee Republican lawmakers in their quest to dictate the operations of the state’s capital city. The latest decision negates a 2023 state law requiring all forms of metro government to have 20 or fewer members on local governing bodies. Tennessee […]
PAC playing in Middle Tennessee’s 5th district U.S. Congress race goes negative
In the waning days of the Republican primary, a political action committee backing Metro Nashville Councilmember Courtney Johnston is shifting its strategy to attack U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in Middle Tennessee districts stretching across Nashville into Columbia. Conservatives With Character started running TV ads and sending mailers questioning Ogles’ claims as an economist and challenging […]
East Tennessee congressman seeks to defund U.S. agency based on a lie
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Knoxville Republican, bizarrely bragged in his July newsletter about introducing a budget amendment that would get rid of funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media. You may not have heard of that obscure agency title, but it is the administrative hub for such important things as Voice of America […]
Tennessee governor OK with outside money for pro-voucher candidates
(This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters) Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy. Gov. Bill Lee says he is OK with outside groups spending big on Tennessee legislative races featuring candidates who support his universal […]
Tennessee Lookout
3K+
Posts
50M+
Views
Now more than ever, tough and fair journalism is important. The Tennessee Lookout is your watchdog, telling the stories of politics and policy that affect the people of the Volunteer State. Our investigative reporters and journalists explain what’s happening, why it’s happening, and who it helps or hurts. We expose the relationships between politics, people and policy and we hold the powerful accountable. You can count on us for hard-hitting stories and incisive commentary on health care, hospital closures, mental health and addiction treatment, education, criminal justice reform and environmental issues. We are a nonprofit and all of our content is free for sharing. Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. Tennessee Lookout retains editorial independence.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.