Yay! Tennessee's best progressive candidate, Steve Cohen is the winner of the Democratic primary. Steve Cohen will vie for U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.'s congressional seat in what is widely known as a 'safely' Democratic district.
When Steve Cohen gets to Congress, progressives in this state will finally be represented in Washington!
Cohen will be heavily favored in the coming November general election against Republican Mark White and independent Jake Ford. (via the Daily Docket )
Eleanor at KnoxViews reports that half as many voters turned out in our own Davidson County as did in Cohen's Shelby County. Perhaps the Dems in Shelby County turned out because they actually have a candidate who represents the democratic wing of the Democratic Party.
Good News for Local/State Politics in Nashville
Democracy for Tennessee endorsed candidates Brenda Gilmore and Gracie Porter won! Brenda Gilmore beat "six-year term incumbent" state Rep. Edith Langster.
Sanity prevails in this blue district: "Gracie Porter looks like the unofficial runaway winner for the Metro School Board's District. . ."
About That Bill Frist Senate Seat
Well, it's no surprise that Corker won the primary. Corker may not have much experience, but he is certainly less strange than his radically conservative opponents, Hilleary and Bryant. Corker, rumored to be a closet liberal, also raised more money.
The Washington Post weighs in:
The bitter contest for the Republican nomination, won by the former mayor of Chattanooga and real estate millionaire Bob Corker over two conservative former congressmen, boded well for Democratic primary winner Harold Ford, Jr., a congressman from the Memphis area who faced no serious primary opposition.
Should Ford win in November, he would become the first Democrat elected senator from Tennessee in 16 years, and the first black elected to the Senate in a southern U.S. state since post-Civil War Reconstruction. . . .
Corker, 53, has limited experience but raised nearly $9 million for the primary, including $2 million of his own money, which he used in the campaign's final weeks to attack his rivals, accusing them of being ineffective congressmen.
Across the State - Republican Lites and Full Strength
"[O]ur blogging candidates.--Bob Krumm won, Stacey Campfield won, and (by the looks of it) Kay Brooks gets to go back to home-schooling full time." (via Brittney at NIT)
The Southern Baptist Times reports:
Third District Republican Zach Wamp of Chattanooga, 5th District Democrat Jim Cooper of Nashville, 2nd District Republican John J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. of Knoxville, 4th District Democrat Lincoln Davis of Pall Mall and 6th District Democrat Bart Gordon of Murfreesboro all easily won their primaries.
Two incumbents faced no opposition: 8th District "Blue Dog" conservative John Tanner of Union and 7th District Republican Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood.
The Bill Clinton / Harold Ford Bash
Mary at Liberadio and Sharon at SharonCobb report on the Clinton/Ford bash.
Steve Cohen Cohen for Congress News Politics Election 2006 Democrats Tennessee Memphis Harold Ford Bob Corker Nashville Bill Clinton
