Lulu Elam, a candidate for Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) State Executive Committee in Davidson County, expressed her concern on Tuesday over her opponent’s reluctance to support the elimination of “vouching” as an option for candidates in Tennessee seeking to qualify as a bona fide Republican.
Current TRP bylaws require prospective candidates to vote in three of four successive statewide primary elections prior to becoming a Republican candidate.
However, the bylaws also provide an option for a candidate to secure the support of Republican leaders to “vouch” for the candidate’s bona fides “to the satisfaction” of the SEC committee if they have failed to meet the primary voting requirement.
“I was dumbfounded to learn that Karen Moore was non-committal and evasive regarding eliminating the vouching provision from the GOP bylaws when she appeared on The Tennessee Star Report on WLAC radio this week,” Elam said in a statement.
“The candidate qualification disputes this year were divisive, costly, and time consuming. They made it clear that we need transparent, objective standards in determining whether someone qualifies as a bona fide Republican seeking to represent our Party,” she said.
“I will strongly encourage the State Executive Committee to eliminate the vouching option and focus on primary voting records in determining whether a candidate is a bona fide Republican when it comes to candidacy,” added Elam.
“Furthermore, a person who lacks the commitment to consistently vote in Republican primaries will also lack the fortitude to show up and fight for conservative Republican principles while serving in office,” Elam added. “The best way to elect conservative Republicans in Tennessee is to ensure that our primary candidates have a demonstrable record as conservative Republicans. The minimum we should expect and demand is that they have voted like one,” the SEC candidate exclaimed.
Elam additionally noted that she wants the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee to do more to help ensure that conservatives emerge from Republican primaries.
“We are seeing more and more mischief from Democrats attempting to influence GOP Primaries through crossover voting, direct donations, independent expenditures or Democrats running for office as Republicans,” Elam noted.
“Whether the best solution is party registration, requiring run-off elections with a 50% plus one majority to secure a nomination, or some other measure, we need to protect our primary process,” she said.
Elam and Karen Moore are running against each other in the August 4 race for State Executive Committeewoman District 20.
Early voting has already begun and will run through July 30.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Lulu Elam” by Vote Lulu Elam State Executive Committee District 20. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by FaceMePLS. CC BY 2.0.
