SB799/HB855: New Bill Seen as Retaliation for Williamson County GOP Loss: Sore Losers, and Sour Grapes

By TruthWire News — March 2025

A newly filed bill in the Tennessee General Assembly—SB0799 and its companion HB0855—is raising eyebrows among grassroots conservatives, who are calling it a blatant abuse of power by the political establishment in response to losing control of the Williamson County GOP.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Jack Johnson (R-D28 Franklin) and Representative Lee Reeves (R-D65 Franklin), would require statewide political parties to use primary elections—rather than voting conventions—to nominate candidates for county level offices, which is an extension of the law that already applies to state and federal level offices. While cloaked in procedural language, grassroots activists say the intent is obvious: to strip local party organizations of the right to hold voting conventions when they want to prevent Democrats from crossing over and manipulating Republican primaries.

According to sources within the GOP, the bill is viewed as a “sour grapes” measure, pushed in the aftermath of a major political upset. The Williamson County Conservatives PAC—backed by Johnson and Reeves—suffered a dramatic loss during the recent GOP Reorganization Convention in Williamson County, despite reportedly spending upwards of $100,000 and launching a coordinated smear campaign against the now elected current board.

When their preferred candidates were defeated, the fallback plan now becomes clear: change the rules.

Efforts to nullify the results of the convention haven’t gained traction. According to sources within the Tennessee GOP, the burden of proof for overturning a reorganization with over 1,500 participants is extraordinarily high—and so far, the evidence presented hasn’t come close to meeting that standard. With the reorganization result likely to stand, SB799/HB855 appears to be a legislative workaround to rein in local party independence.

“This is like the state telling a church how to elect its pastor,” one party member told TruthWire. “Political parties are private organizations. The state has no business dictating how they choose their candidates.”

The proposed legislation would effectively eliminate the option of voting conventions for major races in most counties, forcing primaries even in areas where the party wants greater control over the nomination process to preserve ideological integrity.

What the Bill Says

SB799/HB855 rewrites key sections of Tennessee Code Annotated:

·       Extends the requirement that already exists for all statewide political parties to nominate their candidates via primary election for partisan offices, including Governor, General Assembly, U.S. House, and Senate, to now include county level races such as County Commissions, and School Boards.

·       Allows counties that used a method other than a primary in 2022 or 2024 to continue doing so—but only for local races, and only if they don’t break that pattern in a future cycle.

·       If a county switches to a primary even once, it must continue using primaries thereafter.

Why It Matters

Beyond the local impact, SB799/HB855 raises serious constitutional questions—specifically, potential violations of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The bill grants certain counties ongoing access to primaries simply because they used them in 2022 or 2024, while denying that same option to others that haven’t. This arbitrary distinction creates unequal treatment under the law and lacks any constitutionally sound justification. Legal experts suggest such a disparity, based purely on historical usage rather than current merit or need, could be challenged as unconstitutional.

The issue has deep implications for grassroots political participation. In counties like Williamson—where crossover voting has diluted Republican primaries and created deep internal division—some local parties have pushed for voting conventions as a way to ensure only actual Republicans have a say in candidate selection.

The newly elected board in Williamson County, for example, campaigned explicitly on the promise to guard Republican primaries from Democratic interference. Among their proposed reforms: exploring voting convention-style elections to close the door on crossover manipulation, in the absence of a closed primary. SB799/HB855 would remove that option entirely.

Chairman of the House Election Campaign Finance Subcommittee Representative Tim Rudd (R-D34- Murfreesboro) seemed to pick up on the fact that the bill is a direct response to the Williamson County Reorganization results, stating that he didn’t feel it was appropriate to change the state law in order to address local county issues. Rudd said during the discussion of the bill in committee, “I traditionally haven’t supported this because I wanted the party to be able to choose, and I think we are interfering in the party process...” Rudd continued, “I think this has probably been fostered by a few counties having some organizational issues, and I just kind of, don’t like changing state law to solve a local issue.”

TAKE ACTION: CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS

Grassroots activists are urging voters across Tennessee to call on legislators to stop what they call a blatant abuse of legislative power.

SENATE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE (Hearing April 1^st)

·       Sen. Richard Briggs (Chair) – sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1766

·       Sen. Page Walley (Vice-Chair) – sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2368

·       Sen. Tom Hatcher (2nd Vice-Chair) – sen.tom.hatcher@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-5002

·       Sen. Todd Gardenhire – sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6682

·       Sen. Ed Jackson – sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1810

·       Sen. Sara Kyle – sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4167

·       Sen. Adam Lowe – sen.adam.lowe@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6906

·       Sen. Kerry Roberts – sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4499

·       Sen. Jeff Yarbro – sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3291

HOUSE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE (Hearing April 2^nd)

·       Rep. John Crawford (Chair) – rep.john.crawford@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1717

·       Rep. Dave Wright (Vice-Chair) – rep.dave.wright@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-6879741-6879

·       Rep. Rush Bricken – rep.rush.bricken@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-7448

·       Rep. Jason Powell – rep.jason.powell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6861

·       Rep. Tim Rudd – rep.tim.rudd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2804

·       Rep. Todd Warner – rep.todd.warner@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4170

·       Rep. Jeff Burkhart – rep.jeff.burkhart@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-6804

·       Rep. Ed Butler – rep.ed.butler@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-1260

·       Rep. Tom Leatherwood – rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7084

·       Rep. Dennis Powers – rep.dennis.powers@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3335

·       Rep. Michelle Carringer – rep.michele.carringer@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-1721

·       Rep. Jesse Chism – rep.jesse.chism@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-6954

·       Rep. Vincent Dixie – rep.vincent.dixie@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-1997

·       Rep. Rick Eldridge – rep.rick.eldridge@capitol.tn.gov– (615) 741-6877

·       Rep. Dan Howell – rep.dan.howell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7799

·       Rep Mary Littleton – rep.mary.littleton@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7477

·       Rep. Greg Martin – rep.greg.martin@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2548

·       Jake McCalmon – rep.jake.mccalmon@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4389 

·       Larry Miller – rep.larry.miller@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4453

·       Bo Mitchell – rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4317

·       Jerome Moon – rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-5481

·       Iris Rudder – rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-8695

·       Gabby Salinas – rep.gabby.salinas@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1920

Or if you would like to keep it easy, here is a take action link you can use that will send the message one and done!!

TruthWire News will continue to follow this story and provide updates as it develops.

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