Tennessee Lookout
Keeping our eyes on the Volunteer State
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Latest posts
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As a potential Democratic wave looms, Trump’s DOJ angles for last-minute power over midterms
American democracy faces one of its biggest stress tests of the modern era, as President Donald Trump’s sprawling campaign for power over elections encounters a firewall of judges, state election workers and voting rights leaders heading into Election Day. A cascade of courtroom…
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Judge blocks Tennessee from denying driver’s licenses to immigrants with work permits
A Nashville judge temporarily blocked Tennessee officials from denying driver’s licenses and license renewals to immigrants authorized by the federal government to live and work in the United States. Chancellor Russell Perkins, in an order issued Monday, wrote several factors…
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Tennessee Supreme Court paves way to cut Metro Council, give state control of airport authority
The Tennessee Supreme Court denied a constitutional challenge to a new state law cutting the Metro Nashville Council in half and, separately, dismissed a case challenging a state takeover of Nashville’s airport authority. The court issued the opinions Monday, giving approval of…
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Election officials brace for federal interference but expect to persevere
As concerns rise about the potential for federal influence over the results of next week’s midterm elections, many voting experts and advocates remain confident that the nation’s highly localized systems of administering and counting votes will persevere. Facing sinking approval…
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Blackburn took campaign gifts from TVA board nominees while backing their candidacies
This story was originally published by The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis. Marsha Blackburn brimmed with enthusiasm when she introduced Mitch Graves at a Senate confirmation hearing last fall. A veteran Memphis healthcare executive, Graves had been nominated by…
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Explosive spending, ugly ads and courtroom battles set stage for tense midterm elections
WASHINGTON — When the polls close Tuesday night, the 2026 U.S. election will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early voter turnout among a deeply divided electorate. Voters on Saturday crossed the…
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Early voting turnout tops 1.28M, about 98K short of 2018 total
More than 1.28 million Tennessee voters cast their 2026 midterm ballots during early voting, outpacing the 2022 midterm early voting turnout by 45%. But the total fell about 98,000 votes short of equalling early voting turnout for the 2018 midterms. All counties except Johnson…
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Federal subpoenas to election officials mark escalating Trump DOJ pressure campaign
As the Trump administration waged a public legal fight with California over the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters in mid-October, behind the scenes a federal grand jury in Santa Ana issued a series of subpoenas to election officials in Los Angeles County at federal…
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Commentary: A New Approach to Closing the Disability Wealth Gap
It was another financial institution’s commercial that motivated me to create something different. Two busy white, apparently nondisabled, suburban parents were standing on their carefully manicured lawn talking about how they needed to go to the bank to plan for the future of…
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Trump will hold in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas after all as election nears
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend are back on after initial cancellations, States Newsroom confirmed Friday. The Midwest rallies mark the final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3 — now just four days away — where the GOP is itching to…
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Commentary: Sledgehammers for you, pillows for me: the politics of selective morality in Tennessee
There is something almost theological about watching a politician suddenly discover grace. State Sen. Brent Taylor, the Republican nominee for Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, is now asking voters to extend him something he has rarely seemed eager to extend…
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Lawsuit seeks to block TN from denying driver’s licenses to immigrants legally allowed to work
An immigrant advocacy organization filed a legal challenge on Friday to new Tennessee rules that deny driver’s licenses to immigrants who are legally authorized to work in the United States, arguing the state failed to follow its own rules by abruptly shifting long-standing…
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Nearly $10M spent by outside groups attacking independent TN gubernatorial candidate
Two independent expenditure groups have now spent just under $10 million attacking Tennessee independent gubernatorial candidate David Hatley, with the 2026 election less than five days away. Hatley is running as a “conservative” independent, drawing ire from U.S. Sen. Marsha…
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Stockard on the Stump: Palace intrigue takes over Tennessee Senate
Intrigue is ramping up in advance of a Senate Republican Caucus vote that will choose the next lieutenant governor, the person first in line to succeed an incapacitated governor. Caucus Chairman Ken Yager confirmed Thursday leaders are considering allowing Sen. Brent Taylor, if…
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In a blizzard of lawsuits, Trump’s DOJ battles across the US over midterm elections
The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections came under intense scrutiny in courtrooms across the country on Thursday, as Democrats and voting rights groups alleged federal election interference. A federal judge in…
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“Work a little bit harder.” Tennessee’s women running for governor face challenges men don’t
Three major candidates for Tennessee governor agree on at least one thing — it’s harder campaigning as a woman. No woman has served as governor of Tennessee in the 230 years since the inception of the Volunteer State. The first year women running for the office were considered…
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The 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial debate in photos
Three of the four major Tennessee gubernatorial candidates appeared at a forum one week before the 2026 election in the only statewide nonpartisan forum, sponsored by the Tennessee Press Association and Middle Tennessee State University. Democratic nominee Jerri Green, a member…
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Trump cancels weekend Kansas and Iowa rallies 5 days ahead of election
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. An appearance scheduled for Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was also canceled, the Republican National Committee said in a late Thursday…
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Memphis immigrant food pantry says need remains high a year after federal task force entered city
After her two adult daughters were arrested while working at a Memphis nightclub during a sweeping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in late August, a grandmother suddenly found herself responsible for the care of her eight grandchildren. It’s families like this that…
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Tennessee congressional candidate responds to allegations he sent unsolicited nude pics
A Republican congressional candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump dismissed accusations he sent nude pictures as “youthful indiscretions.” In a story published Tuesday by the Nashville Scene, Sen. Brent Taylor stopped short of admitting to sending the pictures after more…