Tennessee Stands Exposes the Truth: Conservative Promises Broken in a Deep Red State

Tennessee may wear the label of a deep red state, but after the 2025 legislative session, grassroots conservatives are waking up to a harsh reality.
Despite holding more than 80% of the seats in the General Assembly, Tennessee’s Republican supermajority repeatedly betrayed core conservative principles — at least, that's the picture painted by Gary Humble of Tennessee Stands in a detailed hour-long legislative recap.

"This year sucked," Humble stated at the outset of his review.

In a session that should have delivered sweeping victories for parental rights, election integrity, property rights, and life protections, Humble argues the Republican establishment instead protected itself, expanded government control, and sold out the very voters who sent them there.

A Few Wins — But an Avalanche of Losses

Humble did highlight a handful of legislative victories that emerged from an otherwise grim session.

Among the notable wins was HB322, a bill criminalizing human smuggling in Tennessee, and HB811, which holds nonprofit organizations civilly liable if illegal immigrants under their care commit crimes.
Humble emphasized the importance of these two bills in strengthening Tennessee’s response to illegal immigration, calling them

"a bold step forward" that is "completely aligned with Trump’s agenda."

Both Bills were co-sponsored by Senator Brent Taylor (R-D31) of Memphis.

Another key win was HB377, which bans the use of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) practices in hiring and admissions at Tennessee’s public universities.
Under this law, institutions like the University of Tennessee can no longer base employment or student acceptance on race, ethnicity, or political ideology.

HB157 also passed, limiting the Tennessee Department of Health’s authority to promote pharmaceuticals as "safe and effective" unless fully approved by the FDA.
This small but significant change, Humble noted, prevents taxpayer-funded departments from misleading citizens with government-endorsed marketing campaigns, especially in the wake of COVID-19 vaccine controversies.

Finally, HB134 banned foods containing Red 40 dye in public schools — a chemical linked to negative health effects in children.
Although Humble admitted this was a relatively small step, he acknowledged it as real movement in the right direction when it comes to protecting children’s health inside Tennessee’s education system.

Taken together, these wins demonstrate that conservative advocacy is still capable of moving the needle — but Humble made it clear they were the exception, not the rule in a session dominated by establishment politics.

HB855: Forced Open Primaries — and a Hidden $8 Million Price Tag

One of the most glaring betrayals was the passage of HB855, a bill that stripped local Republican parties of their right to select candidates through conventions or caucuses.
Instead, all counties are now mandated to hold state-run open primaries — where Democrats can cross over and vote in Republican elections.

"A supermajority Republican legislature has now forced local Republican parties to nominate candidates by open primary — where Democrats can walk in and vote for Republican candidates," Humble said. "Think about that."

Meanwhile, efforts to close primaries statewide — specifically HB886, which would have required party registration — were quietly killed.

"We've tried for years to close primaries — with unanimous support of the Republican Party Executive Committee. And they killed it. They killed it because some Republicans can’t win without Democrat votes."

Adding insult to injury, throughout the legislative process, the sponsors of HB855 promised there would be no fiscal impact.
Yet, when the bill reached the Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, an $8 million fiscal note suddenly appeared — with no prior warning.

In committee discussion, legislators revealed that this money was initially linked to the Duck River Watershed project, part of a $100 million conservation fund.
However, after further investigation, TruthWire News confirmed through a committee member that advised the $8 million instead came from a $10 million budget surplus that would have rolled over into next year — meaning the Governor’s office added $8 million of new spending to the budget to pay for these now-mandated primaries.

Whether the money was siphoned from conservation projects or raided from a surplus fund, the outcome was clear:
Tennessee taxpayers are footing the bill for a government mandate that local Republican parties did not ask for and that establishment Republicans lied about until the final hour.

Expansion of Digital Surveillance

Another major red flag was the legislature’s expansion of biometric data collection through HB1316, which codified the use of digital IDs in Tennessee.

"What conservatives should have been doing is repealing these digital ID laws altogether," Humble said. "Instead, they codified them and expanded them. At the request of Republican leadership. Incredible."

Rather than dismantling the legal infrastructure that could support vaccine passports and social credit scores, Tennessee Republicans expanded it — and did so quietly.

Abandoning Parental Rights

The failures on parental rights were equally stark.

A bill to affirm a parent’s right to homeschool their children without government oversight (HB552) received zero Republican votes in committee.
Humble pointed out that the only "yes" vote came from a Democrat.

Bills designed to guarantee parental access to medical records of their minor children (HB853) and protect parental authority in healthcare decisions failed as well.

"They talk about parental rights at election time," Humble said, "but when it counts, they kill bills that would actually secure those rights."

Gutting Emergency Power Reform

In the wake of COVID-19 abuses, Humble and many conservatives hoped to see serious restrictions placed on gubernatorial emergency powers.
Yet meaningful reforms were gutted, and the legislature passed a watered-down version of HB132 that merely repeated powers they already possessed.

"They turned it into a nothing burger," Humble said. "The legislature already had the power they codified. It changed absolutely nothing."

Meanwhile, a bill that truly would have restricted the Governor from deeming citizens "non-essential" during emergencies (HB562) was killed.

Humble also noted that Governor Bill Lee refused to sign HB324, a bill that restricts emergency powers from infringing constitutional rights — and even issued a statement opposing the restrictions.

Betrayal of the Pro-Life Cause

Perhaps the greatest betrayal to conservatives came through the passage of HB533, a bill enshrining a "right" to IVF and the use of emergency contraception like Plan B — despite urgent opposition from Tennessee Right to Life and other pro-life groups.

"A supposed conservative Christian governor signed a bill that lets embryos be destroyed with no oversight — and that could strip parental rights over minors seeking IVF treatments," Humble said. "We begged for a veto. He ignored us."

Despite being bombarded with tens of thousands of emails from concerned constituents, Governor Lee signed HB533 into law.

A Red State in Name Only

While some conservatives may still take comfort in Tennessee's deep red electoral map, Gary Humble’s 2025 legislative recap paints a very different reality — one of entrenched establishment interests, unchecked executive power, and deliberate betrayal of conservative principles.

"Don’t let the color of the jersey fool you," Humble warned. "Just because they have an R after their name doesn’t mean they stand for conservative values. In many cases, they stand for the opposite."

There is much more commentary, detail, and analysis packed into the full video below — commentary every Tennessean needs to hear and remember when the next election season rolls around.

As we approach the next election year, the same incumbents who betrayed conservative values this session will soon be wrapping themselves in MAGA slogans and trying to ride President Trump's coattails, betting that voters won't remember the truth.

But you will know exactly what they did — and didn’t do — by watching this video.

In his closing remarks, Gary Humble urged Tennesseans not to become discouraged by the betrayals witnessed during the 2025 session, but instead to remain engaged and committed to the fight.
He emphasized that the point of the review is not to foster despair, but to sharpen resolve.

"Don't take your ball and go home," Humble said. "The point of all of this is to make sure that you understand how important it is that you engage, but that you continue to engage and that we continue to grow our engagement as a self-governing body of citizens here in our state."

Humble reminded viewers that real change will not come from elected officials alone — it must come from relentless citizen involvement. The responsibility, he said, falls to those willing to do the hard work of holding government accountable and protecting the freedoms that should never be taken for granted.

The upcoming Tennessee Legislative Report Card will further expose these voting records — holding every legislator accountable for what happened behind closed doors and in committee rooms.

The future of Tennessee’s conservatism depends on grassroots voters staying informed, engaged, and unwilling to be fooled again.

[Watch the Full 2025 Legislative Recap Video Below]