Montgomery County Democrats did not request a local primary accompanying the 2016 presidential preference primary, meaning that only Republicans will choose nominees for local county races on the ballot next year, the Leaf Chronicle reports. This could include the race for 19th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Part 4, which covers both Montgomery and Robertson counties. The state GOP would have to request the primary and even then it would also require the formal participation of the Robertson County Republican Party for it to be on the ballot in both counties.

The parade of possible GOP presidential candidates marching through Tennessee continues Saturday at the state Republican Party's biggest event of the year, the Tennessean reports. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is the keynote speaker at this year's Statesmen's Dinner, the party's largest gathering — and possibly largest fundraiser — of the year.

State Rep. Ryan Haynes of Knoxville was elected chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party Saturday by the party’s State Executive Committee. He replaces Chris Devaney, who resigned two months into a new two-year term. Haynes defeated executive committee member Rebecca Burke, fellow state Rep. Mary Littleton of Dickson and Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain. He says he will resign from the House when the legislative session adjourns, Knoxnews reports.

Attorney Grant Starrett of Murfreesboro announced today he is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais next year in the Fourth Congressional District's GOP primary. The Vanderbilt University Law School graduate served as president of Tennesseans for Judicial Accountability, which last year challenged the retention of three Supreme Court Justices. State Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, who lost the 2014 GOP primary to DesJarlais by 38 votes, also told the Chattanooga Times Free Press recently that he is weighing another race.

State Sen. Jim Tracy, R- Shelbyville, says he is weighing another challenge to U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais in the Fourth Congressional District’s Republican primary next year, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Tracy lost by just 38 votes to incumbent DesJarlais in 2014. Also said to be weighing a primary challenge is Grant Starrett, a 27-year-old Nashville-area attorney who worked in Republican Mitt Romney’s two presidential campaigns. Starrett also led a group that tried unsuccessfully to oust three Democratic justices on the Tennessee Supreme Court last August.

Second-term state Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, is joining the race to become the next chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, the Associated Press reports. She joins Rep. Ryan Haynes of Knoxville, who already announced he will seek the office. The position is open because Chris Devaney is stepping down to become executive director of the Chattanooga-based Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti. The party is scheduled to elect a new chair on April 11, the Memphis Daily News reports.

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney announced he is resigning effective April 11, the Tennessean reports. In a statement, Devaney said he has accepted the post as executive director of the Children's Nutrition Program of Haiti, "a faith-based nonprofit" headquartered in Chattanooga where he and his family lives. 

Vice President Joe Biden assured reporters that a recent White House-sponsored trip to the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa was just an official and social call, not the beginning of a presidential campaign. He said choosing to run in 2016 is a family personal decision that he will announce sometime this summer. WCYB has more from CNN.

The executive committee of the state Republican Party turned back an effort to hold closed primaries in Tennessee. The panel voted Saturday 37-29 against a resolution aimed at requiring party registration to vote in primary contests, the Associated Press reports. Opponents of open primaries say crossover voting can unduly influence the outcome of primary contests.

Howard Gentry has decided to enter the Nashville mayor’s race, the Tennessean reports. Gentry, Nashville’s former vice mayor and current Davidson County Criminal Court clerk, confirmed late Thursday that he had appointed a treasurer that day to begin raising money for a mayoral run. It marks a return to the mayoral campaign circuit after coming up just 405 votes shy of making the runoff in the 2007 election, which Karl Dean ultimately won. Gentry enters the race as the lone African-American candidate in a field that had consisted of six candidates.