State Assembly races get ‘nasty’
The fiercest fighting is coming from three races in the evenly divided Senate.
By Andy Sher asher@timesfreepress.com
NASHVILLE — The campaign trail through Tennessee’s legislative races is getting increasingly muddy as candidates and party organizations dish dirt on rivals and accuse them of lying, behaving like clowns, coddling drug dealers and violating state ethics or campaign finance laws. Ed Cromer, who edits The Tennessee Journal, a nonpartisan newsletter, said the harshest attacks come in some of the closest races. “They’re trying to win, drive their opponents’ negatives up and win that way,” Mr. Cromer said. “It has gotten quite nasty.” Voters need to ask themselves “are the ads truthful, and, two, are they out of bounds even if they are truthful?” he said. Much of the fiercest fighting involves the three hottest Senate races in the evenly divided Senate, which spurred the National Conference of State Legislatures last month to cite Tennessee as one of the nation’s top 10 legislative battleground states. The Senate is split 16 to 16 between Democrats and Republicans with one independent. In the House, Democrats have a 53-46 edge. Just in time for Halloween, the Tennessee Democratic Party is running a television
ad attacking former Roane County Executive Ken Yager, a Republican running against Morgan County Executive Becky Ruppe, a Democrat, in the 12th Senate District, which includes Rhea County. The ad, which Democrats say is intended to deliver a serious message humorously, spoofs a horror movie trailer. The spot portrays Mr. Yager as a deranged, hockey-mask wearing, chain-saw wielding “job killer” who presided over a 25 percent plummet in manufacturing jobs during his final four years in office. “The new name in terror,” the ad’s announcer says as a woman shrieks and the chain saw roars. “Ken Yager is the Job Killer.” The ad states that in addition to the 25 percent loss of manufacturing jobs, “unemployment ran higher than the statewide average” during Mr. Yager’s 24-year tenure. Yager campaign manager Robert Kuykendall charged that the Democratic attack ad was “false” and “tasteless.” “It appears instead of discussing the issues, Becky Ruppe and her liberal friends in the Tennessee Democratic Party are playing with numbers to hide her dismal record as Morgan County executive,” Mr. Kuykendall said, accusing Democrats of “trying to cherry pick numbers.” Senate Democratic Caucus political director Mark Brown noted the ad is “delivering a hard-hitting message with a little bit of humor.” “Everything we’re doing is documented,” he said. During Mr. Yager’s last term in office, which ended in 2006, Mr. Kuykendall said, total jobs in Roane County went up by eight percent. From 1982 to 2006, employment increased 59 percent, he said. Morgan County’s September unemployment rate is 7.5 percent, higher than the state’s 7.2 percent rate, he added. In the Senate’s 4th District contest, another pivotal race, Republican Mike Faulk’s latest ad accuses incumbent Mike Williams, a one-time Republican turned independent, of making a “sharp left turn” and refusing to rule out voting for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. After an outside Republican group sent a direct mail piece that calls Sen. Williams a clown, the senator struck back, asserting in an ad that “lawyer Mike Faulk represents child molesters and drug dealers and voted against funds to fight the spread of meth.” ON THE WEB Watch Democratic Senate candidate Becky Ruppe attack ad on Republican Ken Yager at www.youtube.com/watch?v=8byttc5v3ro Watch Republican Senate candidate Ken Yager attack ad on Democrat Becky Ruppe at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gtW3jNGb3E WHERE TO VOTE Early voting ends Friday Hamilton County Election Commission, 700 River Terminal Road, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Brainerd Recreation Center, 1010 N. Moore Road, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed Sunday. Northgate Mall at Piccadilly entrance, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed Sunday. Source: Hamilton County Election Commission
