TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Sep 9, 2024

Over the weekend, the Tennessee Republican Party’s State Executive Committee rejected outgoing Oak Ridge Rep. John Ragan’s challenge of his August primary loss to Rick Scarbrough by a 41-7 vote, The Tennessean reports. Ragan lost his Aug. 1 primary race to Scarbrough by 258 votes. Days later, he alleged that Democrats cast "crossover" votes in the Republican primary with the purpose of defeating him. Lawmakers last year passed a new law requiring polling places to display signage warning voters it is illegal to vote in another party’s primary. According to the report, that law has drawn several legal challenges. Scarbrough remains the Republican on the ballot in November. Scarbrough now will face Democrat Anne Backus on Nov. 5.