Governor

One of the most ideal governors I can think of is the current governor of Virgnia, Mark Warner. Mark Warner is a Harvard Law School grad, and got his foot in the door of politics by working as a fund raiser for the Democratic party. During his time as governor of Virginia Warner has been able to raise taxes and cancel favored programs all the while gaining respect and loyalty of the citizens of Virginia. He slashed spending for everything but education, cutting $6 billion in costs, eliminating 3,000 state jobs and even shutting down driver's-license offices one day a week and created $1.4 billion tax increase for the state; giving Virginia the financial footing they need for the next decade.
The current governor of Tennessee is Phil Bredesen, a graduate of Harvard University. Bredesen unlike Warner did not attend law school, rather recieved a degree in physics. Bredesen and Warner are similar in their actions. Bredesen is the only governor to win all 95 counties in a governor election, which shows that he, like Warner, is liked by the people. Bredesen has been able to keep education as a priority, create a health care program, and manage a statewide drug war on methamphetamines; while never raising taxes.

Media in Tennessee politics

There are many large newspapers in Tennessee. One of the largest and most influential newspapers in Tennessee is the Knoxville News Sentinel. When reading this newspaper, the articles ranged from a murder trial, to a grant for local education, as well as a letter to the editor about the constitutionality of an income tax. In his letter to the editor Mr. David Coffey argues that an income tax is unconstitutional. He writes:

"Georgiana Vines did not tell it all in her Oct. 5 column about Doug Horne’s tax award.
She blithely avoids mentioning that the object of the award is to promote an unconstitutional tax and a fundamental change in our state government. Our Founding Fathers brilliantly brought us limited government through a Constitution that divided power and defined the limits of the three government branches. Our Tennessee Constitution is built on the same model, which has brought America unprecedented success.Those who desire less government restraint try to work around the Constitution. They desire to change the meaning of the Constitution to accommodate their ends.Two Tennessee Supreme Courts have ruled that our Constitution does not allow income taxes, except for the Hall Tax on unearned income. So promoting a general income tax at any level, even a 2.5 percent teaser rate, is unconstitutional. Beware the trap: If a Tennessee income tax were passed by the Legislature and accepted by the Tennessee Supreme Court, our Constitution would be redefined to allow such tax at any level. You know where that would lead. Fundamental change to our Constitution should be brought to the people for a vote. Otherwise, it is not “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”


This letter to the editor is important because it shows the level of involvement people in the communtiy have in politics. Also, it shows that the people feel the Knoxville News Sentinel is a good place to discuss political issues, so this allows me to assume that there is an influence from the media on state politics in Tennessee.

State Legislature

The upper house of Tennessee's General Assembly is called the Senate. The state is divided into 33 senatorial districts, from each of which one senator is elected. Senators are elected to four-year terms with those from even-numbered districts being elected in the same general election, and those representing odd-numbered districts being elected two years later. Thus, about half of the 33 senators are standing for election at the same time. Re-election to the Senate is constitutionally permissible, as it is in the House, and there is no limit on the number of terms a legislator may serve.
One current member of the Tennesee General Assembly is Mark Norris. Norris is the Republican leader of the Tennessee senate. Norris was born July 9, 1955 in Akron, Ohio, he received his B.A., of Political Science at Colorado College in 1977, and finally recieved his J.D., at the University of Denver in 1980. Today Norris is an attorney and farmer, as well as a member of the state senate. Also he his married with two sons.

Interest Groups

One current issue in tennessee politics is the influence of interest groups on political decisions. The Tennesee County Services Association is a non profit, non partisan organization that represents the 95 counties throughout the state. TCSA has been around since 1954 and handles a variety of issues within the counties and is made up of three affilitates that focus on specific areas of interest. The purpose of the TCSA is to improve the operation of Tennessee county government and thereby the services counties provide to their residents. This interest group is important to Tennessee politics because it directly represents each county and is the main group when it comes to adivsing individual counties on ways to handle current issues

http://www.tncounties.org/servicesandlinks.html