On Friday, I got a very unexpected voicemail from Michael Patrick Leahy of the Tennessee Star, thanking me for publicly endorsing Matt Van Epps, and saying he was [attempting] to say something nice about me. I responded with thanks. What I did not know at the time was that he was on his podcast just a couple of days earlier, bashing me as usual, for being ineffective and unable to get the vote out for Jody Barrett, even in my own county of Williamson.
I want to take a moment to set the record straight.
For one, I never “endorsed” Matt Van Epps. However, he is now the Republican nominee for Congress in Tennessee’s 7th District, and as such, I communicated that we should support the Republican candidate so as not to elect an outright socialist to Congress. I also contacted Matt directly to congratulate him and wish him success in both the upcoming general election and presumably as Tennessee’s next congressman.
More importantly, I want to address the primary itself. There are some numbers to look at that are very important and should not be overlooked, at least not by those willing to take an honest look and recognize the truth.
Of course, most who have been paying attention know that Tennessee Stands endorsed Jody Barrett in the aforementioned race. We believe that Jody was the right man for the job as he has been a proven conservative leader for 3 years in the Tennessee House and garnered a score of 100 on our most recent report card for the state legislature. Not surprisingly, Jody garnered much support from grassroots conservatives all across the district, in addition to gaining national support from the House Freedom Caucus.
In contrast (and, of course, not mentioned by Michael Patrick Leahy, Matt Murphy, or any of the Nashville radio/podcast RINO propaganda machine), Senator Jack Johnson enthusiastically endorsed Lee Reeves in this race. Not only did he endorse Lee Reeves, but Jack personally spent a good bit of effort fundraising for Reeves’ campaign. One need only compare Johnson’s campaign finance report to Reeves’ FEC reporting to see many of the same usual suspects on the respective contribution lists.
Why is this relevant to the conversation?
The message from Jack’s cheerleading squad, the Williamson County Conserv…I mean, con-artists, and the likes of Leahy and his cohorts, is that Tennessee Stands is ineffective, and Gary Humble (yours truly) seems to fail consistently in the political arena. There is no need to consider, of course, that at every turn, we seem to be outmatched by millions of dollars coming into these primaries from out-of-state DC PACs. Surely, that couldn’t possibly be what makes it so difficult to win these elections.
But this congressional primary was different, almost. In Williamson County, Jody Barrett WON early voting. Here is the tally:
Jody Barrett 1,017 (28.3%)
Matt Van Epps 888 (24.7%)
Lee Reeves 735 (20.4%)
Gino Bulso 541 (15.1%)
This is significant because it is the only real comparison that we can make. These early voting numbers were complete and on record BEFORE President Trump endorsed Matt Van Epps and BEFORE Lee Reeves dropped out of the race due to that endorsement.
Despite over $2.5 MILLION in attack ads spent against Jody Barrett in this race, he WON early voting in our county. Meaning, the grassroots efforts in Williamson County beat over two million dollars in spending in this campaign. Does that sound ineffective to you?
Here is something else to consider. Lee Reeves supposedly had the endorsement of every city mayor in Williamson County, the county mayor, the great majority of the county commission and school board, and every establishment player in the county. And let’s not discount the gravitas of the support from the Senate’s Majority Leader, Jack Johnson. And with all of that firepower, including $300K from his own pocket, Reeves finished third. THIRD! IN HIS OWN HOUSE DISTRICT, where he currently serves as a State Representative.
Seriously. How terrible of a candidate do you have to be to spend all of that money, carry all of those supposedly important endorsements, and finish third in your own district? Well, more than terrible. You have to be one of the worst.
Enter election day, and everything changed. In Williamson County, Matt Van Epps outpaced Jody Barrett two to one, proving that no amount of cash or grassroots activism can top an endorsement from President Trump, especially in Tennessee. Trump flips the script. Period.
All that said, early voting numbers from across the entire district (14 counties) still had Matt Van Epps ahead by 15 points. And again, that was before President Trump’s endorsement, signaling that Van Epps would have won this race regardless of the endorsement. And so, we now turn to the $2.5 MILLION spent in attacks against Jody Barrett. At the end of the day, the numbers show that this is where the election was decided.
Here are a few more numbers to look at. Van Epps garnered 67% of the vote in his home county, Montgomery County. Keep in mind that this is in a field of 11 candidates on the ballot. That is a pretty incredible performance. It is also worth noting that 30.7% of his total vote count came from Montgomery County, just 1 of 14 in the district. Meaning, with Montgomery County so solidly in his corner, it was a pretty difficult task for any candidate to top Van Epps.
I will leave it here. Just before the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, we surveyed over 3,800 Tennessee voters in all 95 counties regarding a variety of issues. In that survey, 96% of respondents had concerns about out-of-state and special interest PAC spending in our state and local elections. And 81% said they supported an outright ban on out-of-state and PAC spending in our primaries.
There is no question that Van Epps was a good candidate. He performed really well, even without President Trump’s involvement. The problem is that we don’t really know how good when you consider that out-of-state players attacked his primary opponent with $2.5 MILLION. The General Assembly needs to take a serious look at this. The simple fact is that grassroots candidates simply can’t compete against that kind of firepower. It’s just not reasonable to assume that this is fair play.
Of course, one might use the “money is speech” argument from the 2010 Citizens United SCOTUS decision. But I would argue that this ruling applies to elections and not primaries or any other nominating process. Keep in mind that a primary is not an election but a process by which a party nominates its candidate to be elected on the upcoming ballot. States, including Tennessee, have decidedly forced parties to nominate their candidates by primary, stating a necessity to protect the voter. I would ask, who is protecting the candidate?
Candidates face a barrage of attacks by out-of-state billionaires, mostly comprised of half-truths at best, and outright slander and lies at worst. And here is the kicker. In the case of defamation, the law protects the liar. Candidates are considered public figures and, therefore, face an incredibly high bar in terms of proving and winning a defamation case in court. It’s nearly impossible. And with Tennessee’s anti-SLAPP law in place, passed in 2019, candidates face massive civil penalties assessed by the courts if they sue for defamation and fail. Losing a defamation case in court could be devastating.
The result? Billionaires spend incessantly against grassroots candidates in Tennessee, and there is virtually nothing we can do about it. Personally, I think we should get this money out of our primaries. And from my experience, I think that many of you agree.
Setting the record straight on primaries, the grassroots, and special interest money.
On Friday, I got a very unexpected voicemail from Michael Patrick Leahy of the Tennessee Star, thanking me for publicly endorsing Matt Van Epps, and saying he was [attempting] to say something nice about me. I responded with thanks. What I did not know at the time was that he was on his podcast just a couple of days earlier, bashing me as usual, for being ineffective and unable to get the vote out for Jody Barrett, even in my own county of Williamson.
I want to take a moment to set the record straight.
For one, I never “endorsed” Matt Van Epps. However, he is now the Republican nominee for Congress in Tennessee’s 7th District, and as such, I communicated that we should support the Republican candidate so as not to elect an outright socialist to Congress. I also contacted Matt directly to congratulate him and wish him success in both the upcoming general election and presumably as Tennessee’s next congressman.
More importantly, I want to address the primary itself. There are some numbers to look at that are very important and should not be overlooked, at least not by those willing to take an honest look and recognize the truth.
Of course, most who have been paying attention know that Tennessee Stands endorsed Jody Barrett in the aforementioned race. We believe that Jody was the right man for the job as he has been a proven conservative leader for 3 years in the Tennessee House and garnered a score of 100 on our most recent report card for the state legislature. Not surprisingly, Jody garnered much support from grassroots conservatives all across the district, in addition to gaining national support from the House Freedom Caucus.
In contrast (and, of course, not mentioned by Michael Patrick Leahy, Matt Murphy, or any of the Nashville radio/podcast RINO propaganda machine), Senator Jack Johnson enthusiastically endorsed Lee Reeves in this race. Not only did he endorse Lee Reeves, but Jack personally spent a good bit of effort fundraising for Reeves’ campaign. One need only compare Johnson’s campaign finance report to Reeves’ FEC reporting to see many of the same usual suspects on the respective contribution lists.
Why is this relevant to the conversation?
The message from Jack’s cheerleading squad, the Williamson County Conserv…I mean, con-artists, and the likes of Leahy and his cohorts, is that Tennessee Stands is ineffective, and Gary Humble (yours truly) seems to fail consistently in the political arena. There is no need to consider, of course, that at every turn, we seem to be outmatched by millions of dollars coming into these primaries from out-of-state DC PACs. Surely, that couldn’t possibly be what makes it so difficult to win these elections.
But this congressional primary was different, almost. In Williamson County, Jody Barrett WON early voting. Here is the tally:
Jody Barrett 1,017 (28.3%)
Matt Van Epps 888 (24.7%)
Lee Reeves 735 (20.4%)
Gino Bulso 541 (15.1%)
This is significant because it is the only real comparison that we can make. These early voting numbers were complete and on record BEFORE President Trump endorsed Matt Van Epps and BEFORE Lee Reeves dropped out of the race due to that endorsement.
Despite over $2.5 MILLION in attack ads spent against Jody Barrett in this race, he WON early voting in our county. Meaning, the grassroots efforts in Williamson County beat over two million dollars in spending in this campaign. Does that sound ineffective to you?
Here is something else to consider. Lee Reeves supposedly had the endorsement of every city mayor in Williamson County, the county mayor, the great majority of the county commission and school board, and every establishment player in the county. And let’s not discount the gravitas of the support from the Senate’s Majority Leader, Jack Johnson. And with all of that firepower, including $300K from his own pocket, Reeves finished third. THIRD! IN HIS OWN HOUSE DISTRICT, where he currently serves as a State Representative.
Seriously. How terrible of a candidate do you have to be to spend all of that money, carry all of those supposedly important endorsements, and finish third in your own district? Well, more than terrible. You have to be one of the worst.
Enter election day, and everything changed. In Williamson County, Matt Van Epps outpaced Jody Barrett two to one, proving that no amount of cash or grassroots activism can top an endorsement from President Trump, especially in Tennessee. Trump flips the script. Period.
All that said, early voting numbers from across the entire district (14 counties) still had Matt Van Epps ahead by 15 points. And again, that was before President Trump’s endorsement, signaling that Van Epps would have won this race regardless of the endorsement. And so, we now turn to the $2.5 MILLION spent in attacks against Jody Barrett. At the end of the day, the numbers show that this is where the election was decided.
Here are a few more numbers to look at. Van Epps garnered 67% of the vote in his home county, Montgomery County. Keep in mind that this is in a field of 11 candidates on the ballot. That is a pretty incredible performance. It is also worth noting that 30.7% of his total vote count came from Montgomery County, just 1 of 14 in the district. Meaning, with Montgomery County so solidly in his corner, it was a pretty difficult task for any candidate to top Van Epps.
I will leave it here. Just before the beginning of the 2025 legislative session, we surveyed over 3,800 Tennessee voters in all 95 counties regarding a variety of issues. In that survey, 96% of respondents had concerns about out-of-state and special interest PAC spending in our state and local elections. And 81% said they supported an outright ban on out-of-state and PAC spending in our primaries.
There is no question that Van Epps was a good candidate. He performed really well, even without President Trump’s involvement. The problem is that we don’t really know how good when you consider that out-of-state players attacked his primary opponent with $2.5 MILLION. The General Assembly needs to take a serious look at this. The simple fact is that grassroots candidates simply can’t compete against that kind of firepower. It’s just not reasonable to assume that this is fair play.
Of course, one might use the “money is speech” argument from the 2010 Citizens United SCOTUS decision. But I would argue that this ruling applies to elections and not primaries or any other nominating process. Keep in mind that a primary is not an election but a process by which a party nominates its candidate to be elected on the upcoming ballot. States, including Tennessee, have decidedly forced parties to nominate their candidates by primary, stating a necessity to protect the voter. I would ask, who is protecting the candidate?
Candidates face a barrage of attacks by out-of-state billionaires, mostly comprised of half-truths at best, and outright slander and lies at worst. And here is the kicker. In the case of defamation, the law protects the liar. Candidates are considered public figures and, therefore, face an incredibly high bar in terms of proving and winning a defamation case in court. It’s nearly impossible. And with Tennessee’s anti-SLAPP law in place, passed in 2019, candidates face massive civil penalties assessed by the courts if they sue for defamation and fail. Losing a defamation case in court could be devastating.
The result? Billionaires spend incessantly against grassroots candidates in Tennessee, and there is virtually nothing we can do about it. Personally, I think we should get this money out of our primaries. And from my experience, I think that many of you agree.
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Gary Humble
Gary Humble