You Can’t Fire Me, I Quit: Oak Hill Commisioner Throckmorton A Republican No More

By Kleinheider Posted on June 16, 2008 at 8:11 am

Many speeches were made and many a candidates were recognized at Saturday’s Davidson County Picnic and Straw Poll but it was one man’s lack of recognition that stood out during the orations and gladhanding of the assembled Republicans in Sevier Park.

Tom Lawless, the Davidson County GOP chair, while recognizing executive committee member Austin McMullen’s victory over incumbent Tommy Jacobs in his race for Oak Hill City Commissioner, expressed pride in the fact that there were now two (the number was emphasized) Republicans on the Oak Hill Commission: Mayor Tommy Alsup and the the aforementioned McMullen.

Oak Hill’s third City Commissioner Raymond T. “Chip” Throckmorton, III was not included. A curious omission to state political watchers who remember Throckmorton as a Republican primary candidate in 2006 for the 23rd District state Senate seat currently held by Republican Jack Johnson, covering Williamson County and a small portion of southern Davidson. Throckmorton lost that contentious multi-candidate primary by less than 300 votes.

When asked why Throckmorton was not included in his tally of Republicans on the Oak Hill Commission, Lawless said, “I do not consider him the same type of Republican that Tommy Alsup and Austin McMullen are. I think they are radically different in their approaches to things.”

When pressed as to whether Throckmorton was, in his estimation, a Republican at all, Lawless gave voice to quiet rumors in Republican circles that Throckmorton may be planning to run against Senator Jack Johnson again in 2010 — this time as an independent.

“[Throckmorton] has made comments to me that he wasn’t sure he wanted to be a Republican. He may run as an independent the next time he runs,” Lawless said.

In light of that, Lawless submitted that saying that there are only two members of the Davidson County Republican Party on the Oak Hill City Commission, in his opinion, was “an accurate statement.”

“[Throckmorton] doesn’t have a very high opinion of the Davidson County Republican Party which is unfortunate because Chip is an old friend of mine,” Lawless said.

Chip Throckmorton, via telephone from a family vacation in Alabama, tells Post Politics that he was not surprised by the omission by Lawless nor his subsequent comments. Throckmorton says he has been ostracized both before, but especially after, his 2006 primary loss to now state Senator Jack Johnson.

“I have always been an unwanted stepchild in the local Republican Party,” he said. Throckmorton believes he has been slowly “excommunicated” from the Party because he was not the chosen candidate in 2006 and did not “ask permission to run.” Thockmorton says that despite his two year respite from party politics, Republicans continue to talk him down.

As for his thoughts on Davidson County GOP chair Lawless, Throckmorton was straightforward, “Tom Lawless is the epitome of what is wrong with the Davidson County Republican Party.”

When asked point blank whether he considers himself a Republican Throckmorton, pausing frequently, said, “Ya know, I guess, not anymore. I am quite frankly tired of hypocrisy in both parties.”

As to whether he is indeed considering challenging Jack Johnson as an independent in 2010, Throckmorton expressed ambivalence, “I haven’t given any more thought to do doing something like that as to not doing it. But, I can tell you one thing. There are a lot of people who would like to see me do it.”

In the end, Throckmorton seemed agnostic about the call to public service. He said that he really hasn’t been that politically active since losing to Johnson instead focusing on making money for his family.

But, Throckmorton cautioned, “If business goes well and I continue to get good cases and I find have some money to burn, who knows, I just might ask myself, ‘Do I go on down to Tunica to throw this money away or do I go on down and sign up for election?’”

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Tags: Chip, Davidson County GOP, Oak Hill, Ray Throckmorton, Tom Lawless