Hurdles: Kurita’s Tough Road Back To The Capitol
Posted on November 11, 2008 at 8:21 pmI have to agree with Braisted. At this point, it is highly unlikely that Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey will refuse to seat newly elected Democratic Senator Tim Barnes.
The reason, however, is not so much that Ramsey already has his majority and he is discarding Kurita now that she has outlived his usefulness. The reason is that, quite simply, the law is not on his side. Although the Senate does have the prerogative not to seat a member, they still have to have legal standing to withhold a court challenge.
When the Senate refused to seat Ophelia Ford it was based on shenanigans that occurred in the general election. The shenanigans in Kurita’s election were in the primary.
Nothing went wrong in the general election. Kurita was a write-in candidate. No harm, no foul.
The primary election, where the election was essentially stolen from Kurita, is, in the end, under the purview of the Tennessee Democratic Party. However wrong one may have thought that action was, it doesn’t appear to be illegal.
The fact that the law clearly needs to be changed to determine whether we have an open primary is clear. That, however, doesn’t help Kurita and it doesn’t help Ramsey and the Republicans in defending a failure to seat Barnes in the court system.
The good news for Kurita, it appeared anyway, was that the vote for Ron Ramsey for Lt. Governor that cost her her Senate seat might end up being an advantage in seeking a constitutional office in the new Republican majority. Lt. Governor Ramsey, and many Senate Republicans, owe their working majority in the last legislative session to her. Republicans worked on her write-in campaign and gave money to the effort.
It seems, however, that affection towards Kurita does not extend very far beyond the Senate chamber and, to be elected Secretary of State, Kurita would need not only the votes of her fellow senators, but state house members as well.
On Monday, Steve Gill was on the radio shouting form the rooftops that now that Republicans were in control that only Republican should be constitutional officers. Yes, Kurita may have voted for the right man for Speaker in 2007 but, in the end, she is a Democrat, nanny-statist and pro-abortion and Democrat.
Gill is not alone in his belief. Newly elected house member Josh Evans, who was praised on the Gill show for speaking out on the subject had this to say regarding a potential Kurita candidacy, “While I do have a tremendous amount of respect for Kurita, her values and votes in the Senate do not align with the Republican party or with my views.”
Rep. Mike Bell, a conservative stalwart elected in 2006, concurs with the freshman legislator.
“I appreciate Sen Kurita and her courageous vote two years ago to finally wrest control of the senate from a good man who was obviously past his prime but I will not support her for Secretary of State,” Bell explains. “This office oversees all elections in the state. I believe that electing her to this position would be a slap in the face to all the hard working republicans who have fought and worked for republican candidates across this state.”
Rep. Susan Lynn, while offering words of praise for the Senator, also has ruled out a vote for Kurita.
“Senator Kurita was a great state Senator for her district, and she served the state of Tennessee most honorably. She is very intelligent and always voted according to her conscience,” Lynn stated.
“However, there are so many worthy Republican candidates who in the past had absolutely no possibility or opportunity to serve in this position. They deserve our consideration and support for their many years of hard work and sacrifice on behalf of our party.”
If House Republicans have any thing to do with it, Rosalind Kurita’s road back to Legislative Plaza as Secretary of State seems like a long one indeed — even with the support of the Lt. Governor and her former colleagues.
Comments
7 Responses to “Hurdles: Kurita’s Tough Road Back To The Capitol”
The Retreads are not going to put Kurita in as one of them because she is not. She’s a true new grassroots, independent Democrat which she has been all along, social progressive and fiscal conservative. She’s not going away because the Democrats are in disarray and the Democratic women of this state will recall the party but not for the good ole boys: quake, quake. What do those old guys go do when it’s over? Where do they go? West Tennessee?
I hope there will be something good for Kurita, but I don’t see how Secretary of State can be it.
Well, in the end she didn’t even get her pieces of silver. Who knew?
I’m sure R.K. will be just fine no matter what happens. Her personal circumstances are somewhat more than modest.
Also, I think she sleeps better at night knowing that vote was the best thing for the state, not the best thing for the good old boys that run the Democratic Party in Tennessee.
What Tennessee Dems know about concepts like ‘courage’ could fit in the pointy end of a thimble. It doesn’t surprise me that Republicans are just as craven as their counterparts, unfortunately.
I so want a nonpartisan (as opposed to bipartisan) election oversight mechanism in this state. One party or the other picking up a few legislative seats should not drive partisan turnover at the state or county election commissions, nor should it have that much influence over the Sec of State position.
Also, it seems highly unlikely that a single Democrat in the state legislature would vote for Kurita. Three Republicans have publicly said they won’t vote for her. By my math, if every other Republican would vote for her, she’s tied 66-66. It’s seem unlikely that she’ll get all 66 of the remaining Republicans.
Might she get some Democrat votes? In the end, no matter the hatred over what she has done, she is still the best they are likely to do.