NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee's Lt. Gov. Randy McNally plans to finish out his term as the leader of the Tennessee Senate, and his office confirms, he'll stand for re-election as Senate Speaker for the 114th General Assembly.
That means, if his caucus supports his re-election as Tennessee Speaker, he would serve as Tennessee's second highest elected official until early 2027. McNally's current term as a member of the Tennessee Senate also expires in late 2026.
"Lt. Gov. McNally has been honored to have the support of his caucus and the Senate as speaker over the past seven years," wrote Adam Kleinheider, McNally's spokesperson. "He is hopeful that support continues into the 114th General Assembly."
The state senator from Oak Ridge is the longest serving member of the Tennessee General Assembly, coming to the House in 1979 and then being elected to the Senate in 1987. He was elected Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor in 2017.
There were questions if Lt. Gov. McNally would stay on after a scandal involving comments on his Instagram page back in March. NewsChannel5 and other media outlets discovered McNally had been regularly commenting on provocative pictures on social media, while insisting that his intentions were misconstrued.
"I'm really, really sorry if I've embarrassed my family, embarrassed my friends, embarrassed any of the members of the legislature with the posts," McNally told NewsChannel 5 Investigates back in March. "It was not my intent to [embarrass them] and not my intent to hurt them."
After the allegations surfaced, McNally survived a secret ballot vote of his caucus, but there were still questions about whether he would stay on after the end of the 2023 session.
Just because the 79 year old intends to stay on, doesn't mean another member of his party won't challenge him for the position. The Lieutenant Governor's current term as speaker expires at the end of the 113th General Assembly in early 2025.
