A Republican candidate challenged the signatures on House Democrat Rep. Justin Jones' petition to run again for the Tennessee General Assembly. He will remain on the ballot after a 3-1 vote by the Davidson County Election Commission.
Republican Laura Nelson ran against Rep. Jones in a special-called election but handily lost the race. She is running again for House District 52, a heavily Democratic district. Nelson is challenging both his petitions and evidence that he brought before the Davidson County Election Commission. Rep. Jones' petition was certified for him to be on the ballot. Nelson came after to challenge his candidacy.
This election would make Jones' second time in office. He was first elected in 2022. Jones was one of three lawmakers who protested from the House floor following The Covenant School shooting, which killed six people — including three 9-year-olds. After that action, House members expelled Jones down party lines. Nashville re-elected Jones in September He's held the seat ever since.
Nelson originally challenged 10 signatures for how they were on Jones' petition.
"Are y'all going to be pawns in this game?" Jones said to the election commission. "I say appeal and appeal and appeal. The truth is powerful and it prevails. We have the evidence on our side. I don't understand the absurdity of this whole hearing. It's insulting to the people of Davidson County.
By the end of Nelson's argument, she was only challenging three signatures.
"This is 'we the people,'" Nelson said. "Not 'we the attorneys.' This case is simply procedural. When rules and procedures are followed as intended, it fosters trust in the people making the rules and setting precedent. I was denied my due process. Election integrity starts right here. We each have a choice as candidates to challenge each other's nomination petition. It's a procedural matter for each one of us. The evidence we are disputing are not the signatures on the affidavits. It's the candidate petition. It's this legal document."
The argument over signatures
Nelson challenged 10 of the signatures for several different reasons, including spelling names wrong, signatures that don't match other documents they signed and a misspelling of Forest Avenue. Metro Council changed how the avenue was spelled last year.
Nelson said Jones didn't turn in his evidence on time and argued it should be thrown out because it wasn't turned in on time. However, Commissioner Tricia Herzfeld said it was turned in on time because it was supplemental evidence. The burden of proof was on Nelson being she was the challenger.
In response to the signatures, Jones provided 10 notarized affidavits from the signature holders in question. The affidavit writers indicated they were who they said they were and they did indeed sign Jones' petition to run for office again.
"The truth is powerful and it prevails," Jones said. "The election commission staff certified my petition before the deadline. Days later, my Republican opponent called the chair of this commission. So my question is what does it mean when the chair calls this commission for legal advice? We have the evidence on this. The truth is powerful and it prevails. I come before this commission today that this challenge is in a pattern of political harassment to be used right now."
Nelson also claimed a voter registration form was typed and not hand printed as per the instructions, someone indicated on a past voter registration form they were a felon and not signing the petition in the correct place. We recently did a story about Tennessee's voter registration form violating a federal law by a judge based on the issue of felony conviction.
The issue comes down to convicted felons, who have the right to vote. In Tennessee, some people convicted of felonies are not allowed to vote, but that's not the case with all people convicted of felonies. Some still have that right.
The voicemail
Rep. Jones played a voicemail before the commission that provided why Nelson called the Commission Chairman Jim DeLanis.
In the voicemail, Nelson said Tennessee GOP Chairman Scott Golden told her to call DeLanis after the Davidson County Election Commission certified Jones' petition.
She told DeLanis "he was the man" to help her plight.
Jones said the voicemail was "harassment."
