Rep. John Litz Will Not Seek Reelection In ‘10

7 Responses to “Rep. John Litz Will Not Seek Reelection In ‘10”

1. Landree Brotherton writes
   June 20th, 2009 11:49 pm

   Rep. Litz has served the people of Hamblen County honorably over the last seven years. He has been an able representative and will be truly missed in that position. He has been active and engaged in the legislature, as well as the county. I, for one, look forward to whatever it is he plans to do next.

2. TNOBSERVER writes
   June 21st, 2009 12:05 am

   This is a disaster for House Democrats. Litz’s seat WILL fall back into GOP hands. The Democrats are going to have to find another seat elsewhere in the state to go after–this one is gone. Now, there are rumors out there that Litz wants to run for Hamblen county mayor–if he chooses to do so at the expense of regaining a Democratic Majority in the house he will find himself out in the cold. Quite gutless of him actually. Litz is pulling a Randy Rinks here.

3. David Oatney writes
   June 21st, 2009 1:42 am

   Everyone knew this was coming who lives in this part of Tennessee and who follows State and local politics. It was well-known that Litz had no intention of running for re-election. Litz is going to run for Hamblen County Mayor, replacing David Purkey. Purkey is going to run for Litz’s seat.

4. Mike Turner writes
   June 21st, 2009 3:11 am

   John Litz is a valuable member of our Democratic Leadership Team. He has represented the people of Morristown and Hamblen County with Honor and he will be Missed by me. He has made a personel family decision and will again serve the people of Hamblen County. We have known since January of John’s decision and have found a great canidate for that district and I look forward to the announcement.

5. Tyler Durden writes
   June 21st, 2009 9:19 am

   With all due respect, Mike Turner, just because you’ve recruited a candidate doesn’t mean he has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.

   If history is any indicator, your new candidate - with the sage advice of the caucus leadership and our all-knowing Blue Dog delegation - will spend the next year trying to raise money instead of crafting a populist message that voters actually like. And you’ll spend that money on direct mail that people throw away or expensive ads that nobody except Bill Fletcher and the media whores care about.

   You might look forward to the announcement of your “great new candidate” for Litz’s seat, but I think the rest of us can look forward to the Republicans keeping control of the General Assembly and redrawing the political maps in 2010. You and your caucus have missed a major chance to create a backlash against the TNGOP by voting for all the NRA bills and by not pushing back against their radical conservativism with a clear-cut progressive/populist agenda in the middle of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes.

   In the end, I think Tennessee’s establishment Democrats are all going to have to get wiped out and sent home so that we can start over again with some new blood who know how to win elections. The Republican-lite/Dixiecrat formula ain’t getting the job done.

6. Landree Brotherton writes
   June 21st, 2009 1:36 pm

   With all due respect to the naysayers, I know the candidate who Rep. Turner is referring to, and I couldn’t be happier that this person is going to run. This candidate is of the highest quality and will no doubt run a superb campaign….one that I’m most definitely looking forward to.

7. TNOBSERVER writes
   June 22nd, 2009 8:43 am

   With all due respect to Chairman turner and “Landree Brotherton” (whoever that is) Wouldn’t Litz serve the Caucus better by staying put one more term? This is just one more thing for Democrats to overcome in 2010.