Leonard Ray Blanton was an American businessman and politician who served as the 44th governor of Tennessee from 1975 to 1979. He also served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives,from 1967 to 1973. Though he initiated a number of government reforms and was instrumental in bringing foreign investment to Tennessee,his term as governor was marred by scandal over the selling of pardons and liquor licenses.
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly,the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
John Newton Ford,is a former Democratic member of the Tennessee State Senate and a member of Tennessee's most prominent African-American political family. He is the older brother of former U.S. Representative Harold Ford,Sr. and the uncle of former Tennessee U.S. Representative and 2006 United States Senate candidate Harold Ford,Jr.
Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents,including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennessee state lawmakers and two men identified as "bagmen" in the indictment on the morning of May 26,2005,on bribery charges. The FBI and TBI followed these arrests with an additional arrest of two county commissioners,one from Hamilton County,and the other a member of the prominent Hooks family of Memphis. Investigators also arrested a former county administrator.
Pamela Joan Rogers is an American sex offender and a former elementary school physical education teacher and coach who taught in McMinnville,Tennessee. She was convicted of four counts of sexual battery in 2005 and two counts of solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor in 2006 stemming from a three-month relationship with a 13-year-old boy who was her student at Centertown Elementary School. Her case made headlines and was covered by major news networks for being a notorious teacher who had an unlawful sexual relationship with one of her students. After getting released in 2012,she was taken into custody in 2015 for allegedly conspiring to smuggle contraband cell phones into a state prison and sentenced to eight years in prison;her case brought headlines and national attention to the practice of cellphone smuggling in prison.
James Rand McNally III is an American politician. He is the 50th lieutenant governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party,he has been the state senator from the 5th district since 1987.
Kathryn Inez Bowers was an American Democratic politician and member of the Tennessee General Assembly who left office after being implicated in the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal.
The Tennessee Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Tennessee. Since the mid-1960s,the state has become increasingly Republican. The current chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Scott Golden. It is currently the dominant party in the state,controlling the majority of Tennessee's U.S. House seats,both U.S. Senate seats,both houses of the state legislature,and the governorship.
Matthew Joseph Hill is an American talk show host,businessman,and politician who served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2005 to 2021. Hill briefly served as Deputy Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives under appointment by House Speaker Rep. Glen Casada.
Brian Kelsey is an American politician and former member of the Tennessee State Senate. A member of the Republican party,he was elected to represent District 31,which encompassed the following parts of Shelby County:Cordova,East Memphis,and Germantown.
Beth Halteman Harwell is a member of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. She served as State Representative for Nashville and is a former chair of the Tennessee Republican Party. First elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1988,Harwell served as a Republican Minority Whip and Commerce Committee chair before being elected to the Speakership. She is the first woman to serve as Tennessee's Speaker of the House. In 2017,she announced her candidacy for governor of Tennessee in the 2018 election.
Thomas Eric Watson is an American politician and police officer from Cleveland,Tennessee. From 2006 to 2014,he was a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 22nd district,encompassing Cleveland,Meigs County,Polk County,and parts of Bradley County. Watson served one term as sheriff of Bradley County from September 2014 to September 2018.
Jeremy Ryan Durham is an American former politician and attorney. From January 2013 to September 2016 he served as the Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 65th District,encompassing parts of Williamson County,Tennessee. On July 13,2016 a special committee of the Tennessee House of Representatives released a report that found Durham had had inappropriate "sexual interactions" with 22 women. On September 13,2016,Durham was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives on a 70–2 vote.
Joey Hensley is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee Senate representing District 28 since January 8,2013. Hensley served consecutively in the Tennessee General Assembly from January 2003 until January 8,2013,in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 70 seat.
David Frank Kustoff is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States representative from Tennessee's 8th congressional district. The district includes the bulk of West Tennessee,but most of its population is in the eastern part of the Memphis area,including the eastern fourth of Memphis itself. From 2006 to 2008,Kustoff served as a United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. He is one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress,alongside Max Miller.
David Michael Dunavant is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 2017 to 2021. He formerly served as the District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District in Tennessee from 2006 to 2017.
David H. Lillard Jr. is an American lawyer,politician and government official. A Republican,he serves as the state treasurer for the state of Tennessee.
Roscoe Dixon was an American politician in the state of Tennessee. Dixon lived in Memphis,Tennessee and was involved with the public relations business. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1978 to 1994 and in the Tennessee Senate from 1994 to 2005. He was arrested and charged in Operation Tennessee Waltz in 2005. Dixon was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison on corruption charges. He died at the age of 71 on April 15,2021,in a hospital,in Memphis,Tennessee.
Tennessee's 15th Senate district is one of 33 districts in the Tennessee Senate. It has been represented by Republican Paul Bailey since 2014,succeeding retiring Democrat Charlotte Burks.
