Candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Robby Starbuck appears to be backing off his claims about his voter history, writing on social media that he never said he voted in two 2020 Tennessee GOP primaries and that he misunderstood the question.
More than once, Robby Starbuck claimed to have voted in the August 2020 primary as well as the March presidential primary in 2020. Voting in Republican primaries is a component of the process for qualifying for the 2022 August primary ballot.
In a comment on his campaign Facebook page, Starbuck now claims that he never said he voted in Tennessee’s Republican primary elections in 2020:
I didn’t say I voted 2x in 2020, I thought the question was have I voted twice in primaries which I have just in a different state. I confused the question they asked me.
This is in contrast to an interview Starbuck had on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy as well as a back-dated press release he issued dated January 26, 2022.
The Tennessee Star reached out to Starbuck on January 28, 2022 on the issue of his voter history when the records were obtained from Williamson County election officials. He said in the back-dated release: “Since becoming a full-time Tennessee resident, I voted in every election I’ve been here for.” Records show Starbuck first registered to vote in Tennessee in 2019.
The Tennessee Star Report host Michael Patrick Leahy asked Starbuck about his Tennessee voting history, in a live radio broadcast on January 21, and Starbuck repeatedly claimed to have voted in Tennessee Republican primaries, a claim which Williamson County election records show is not true.
Leahy: There’s another question about the standards of eligibility to run for the Republican primary. I’m sure you’ve looked at this quite a bit. And we had a story on it and talked to the party chair, Scott Golden, about this. I think the standard is you have to have voted in three of the past four Republican primaries wherever you live.
So here in Tennessee, that would be the August [2020] primary, August 2018 primary, as well as the March presidential primary in 2020 and the August 2016 primary. That’s the standard. Three out of the past four. Have you met those standards?
Starbuck: Yes. One thing that’s important to understand, I have. Everybody’s got my voting record because I did live out of state for some of those elections. And they’ve got my California voting record. They have my registration. The purpose of it really is to make sure you’re a Republican in Tennessee because it is not a closed primary state.
In California, where I was it was a closed primary state, and I was always registered as a Republican and always voted Republican. That’s something that’s out there. All the party chairs have it. And I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.
Leahy: So if you could the last four primaries that existed, how many did you vote for in Tennessee’s Republican primary and how many in California? Do you remember?
Starbuck: If I go back, it would be one primary here and then the rest in California were primaries because it would have been the last primary. It’d be two primaries here and then the rest in California.
Leahy: The primary here would have been August of 2020 and March of 2020. So you voted here in those GOP primaries and then the previous two were in California, is that right?
Starbuck: Yes.
Robby Starbuck told The Star on Saturday, January 29, 2022 “I don’t feel it’s necessary” to explain why he claimed in a January 21 radio interview with The Tennessee Star Report that he voted in two Tennessee GOP primaries in 2020, when voting records provided to The Star by Williamson County officials show that he did not vote in either 2020 Tennessee GOP primary.
The Star previously reported that Tennessee Republican Party bylaws require active Republicans to have either (1) voted in three of the last four GOP primaries or (2) to have their “bona fide” status vouched for by Republicans in the district they seek to represent and then approved in a majority vote by a specially assembled committee of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee in order qualify to be on the August 2022 GOP primary ballot.
In addition to Robby Starbuck, several Republicans are reportedly considering entering the TN-5 race, including former Tennessee State House Speaker Beth Harwell, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, former Tennessee National Guard Brigadier General Kurt Winstead, former State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus, and Nashville businessman Baxter Lee. Candidates can begin collecting qualifying petitions on February 7th, 2022.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Robby Starbuck” by Robby Starbuck.
