Williamson County’s new Democrat chair talks centrism—and establishment Republicans are all ears. Jack Johnson & Co. aren’t fighting the left, they’re courting it, hoping crossover voters will keep RINOs in power.
By Kelly Jackson | TruthWire News
The newly elected chair of the Williamson County Democratic Party, Ragan Grossman, says she’s ready to “build a community.” But from the sound of her early messaging, what she’s really building is a bridge—straight to the establishment wing of the Tennessee Republican Party.
Grossman, a Franklin native and 1999 graduate of Franklin High School, now leads a local party battered by years of losses at the county, state, and federal level. She’s taken the reins with a pragmatic tone, stressing a need to focus on “reasonable representatives” and “meeting people where they are.” But in today’s Tennessee politics, that kind of language doesn’t sound like opposition—it sounds like an echo.
Grossman’s centrist overtures are virtually indistinguishable from the political patter of Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, the Williamson County Republican who rarely misses an opportunity to posture to the right while voting squarely for the middle. Johnson, who faces reelection soon, has every reason to welcome voices like Grossman’s into the local political conversation. Her emphasis on centrism offers Johnson and his allies a convenient foil to the grassroots GOP base—especially those tired of being called “extremists” for expecting their elected officials to vote like conservatives in a red county.
