News Analysis: What is becoming of the West

With a few key retirements, the power of West Tennessee Democrats is slipping away

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

The rule in Tennessee politics is that Republicans have to carry the East in a big way if they want to win statewide and Democrats have to dominate in West Tennessee to accomplish their goals. That leaves Middle Tennessee as the toss-up battleground. This isn't one of those unwritten rules – this is one of those tattoo-on-your-forehead rules.

But these days, West Tennessee is becoming of increasing concern for Democrats.

Yesterday, NashvillePost.com reported that Democratic State Rep. Phillip Pinion of Union City is retiring from the legislature. On top of that, we have the announced retirements of State Rep. Randy Rinks (D-Savannah), State Sen. John Wilder (D-Somerville) and – perhaps most importantly – Joe Hill, chief of staff for Congressman John Tanner.

What that means is that the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, the House Democratic Caucus Chair, the former Lieutenant Governor and one of the best political minds in the state all leaving the stage at the same time.

While most people in the state have – understandably – never heard of Joe Hill, every Democrat who has had statewide dreams has had him on speed dial since speed dial was invented. For 35 years, he has worked for the 8th Congressional District, first for the late Congressman Ed Jones and now Tanner. If you wanted to know who sneezed in Hornbeak, you called Joe Hill.

Probably the person most immediately affected by these retirements is Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh. While he has decent odds of holding on to the seats given up by Rinks and Pinion, he loses two top lieutenants in the rough-and-tumble world of the legislature. Not only were they in his leadership, they are were close and trustworthy friends. That isn't replaced easily.

The seat being vacated by Wilder is an uphill climb for Democrats now, regardless of whether he made one more go of it or not. The world has changed significantly since he first took office and his district went from solid Dem to leaning GOP while he was in office.

Wilder's penchant for empowering East Tennessee Republicans like former State Sen. Ben Atchley of Knoxville likely not only kept him in the lieutenant governor's office for as long as it did. It probably afforded him some GOP slack at home.

The Tennessee General Assembly has historically been ruled by rural Tennessee. So much so that the U.S. Supreme Court had to come in and break up the monopoly with its landmark ruling on the Tennessee lawsuit of Baker vs. Carr. While state political districts may have been redrawn to bring about "one man, one vote," the power of one man in the legislature usually resided with a Democrat from West Tennessee.

So what does all of this mean?

The power of West Tennessee Democrats in the legislature and the state Democratic party is waning.

While Naifeh is as secure as a targeted politician in a position of power can be, his longtime allies are retiring. The crop of politicians who will take their places will be considered neophytes for a long time. In the meantime, Democrats from Middle and East Tennessee are taking their places in leadership positions.

Take a look and you see some of the top Democratic positions already filled by Reps. Dennis Ferguson of Roane County, John Litz of Hamblen County and Gary Odom of Davidson County.

In the Senate, the loss of Wilder means an extremely difficult battle for Democrats in what once was a solid seat. Should Democrats regain control of the Senate anytime soon, it is safe to say that rural West Tennessee Democrats won't see the largesse they were provided under Wilder.

All of these factors have Republicans salivating. While they will most likely not pick up all the seats listed above, they no longer have to square up to some extremely accomplished political minds. True, some promising Democrats are in the wings and ready to pick up the banner. But experience wins battles and West Tennessee Democrats are losing a lot of that quality.