August 6, 2004

Another One THREE Bite The Dust

Three Tennessee legislators who backed the proposed state income tax a few years ago have been defeated. In East Tennessee, Republican state Rep. Bob Patton, a supporter of the income tax who also voted against restrictions on abortion and voted for the retention of a Democrat, Jimmy Naifeh, as House speaker, was defeated by Matthew Hill, who will actually vote like a conservative Republican, including against the income tax should Naifeh and his pro-income tax pals try to bring it back again. Patton, who recently tried to claim he was duped by then-Gov. Don Sundquist into voting for the income tax, will not be missed.

Also in East Tennessee, state Sen. Bill Clabough of East Tennessee was defeated in a primary election yesterday by a more conservative Republican, political newcomer Raymond Finney, for the GOP nomination for the 8th District state Senate seat. It's a Republican-leaning district, so Finney is virtually guaranteed to win in November. That's good news as Finney is iron-clad opposed to the income tax and to higher state taxes in general, while Clabough's record is one of embracing the income tax and higher taxes in general.

Clabough, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, was a supporter of the proposed state income tax a few years ago, making him one of the favorite senators of then-Gov. Don Sundquist, who was pushing for creation of the income tax. Sundquist reacted to Clabough's defeat last night, reports the Maryville Daily Times:

Former Gov. Don Sundquist, a Townsend resident, was stunned. "I had a bad feeling about this," said Sundquist. "He's a good legislator. I hate to see him get beat."

Clabough's departure from the Senate may also impact the future of the proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights, which was halted in the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year. it was never brought up for a vote in the finance committee, but Clabough was thought likely to vote against it. Whichever Republican senator replaces him on that committee may be more likely to vote for the TABOR. (I would urge the party's senate leadership to select Sen. Jim Bryson to replace Clabough in that committee.)

The third pro-income tax legislator to be defeated was Chattanooga's longtime Democratic state Rep. Brenda Turner, ousted by another Democrat in her primary. Turner was Naifeh's deputy House speaker. I haven't found out yet if Turner's opponent has taken a stance on the income tax.

Meanwhile, in a race for a state House seat in a district in the northern edges of Nashville, longtime legislator Tim Garrett, a reliable vote against the income tax, was defeated in the primary by Gary Moore, a Nashville firefighter. I don't know where Moore stands on fiscal issues such as taxes and the proposed income.