TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Mar 29, 2022

The Tennessee General Assembly agreed Monday to ban newcomers from running for U.S. House and Senate seats and make the ban effective for the next election, the Nashville Post reports. The Tennessee House had preferred delaying the effective date until after this year’s election but the Senate argued it should go into effect immediately. Following negotiations, the House adopted the Senate language. If signed by Gov. Bill Lee, the measure could keep Trump-backed candidate Morgan Ortagus and music video producer Robby Starbuck from running in the state’s newly redrawn 5th Congressional District. Some have questioned the constitutionality of the measure since the U.S. Constitution specifically lays out requirements for congressional candidates, which do not include residency rules other than the candidate live in the state. In related news, Punchbowl News reported today that the Tennessee Conservative PAC is planning to fund a lawsuit to overturn the bill.