Free Republic

Former state Rep. Joe Carr is laying the foundation to run against Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee in the Republican primary next year, accusing the incumbent of being too reluctant to back President Trump’s agenda. He’s formed a political action committee dubbed “Stand Firm America” that raised $500,000 over the last three weeks, in what Mr. Carr said is an early show of support. Mr. Carr becomes the latest insurgent hoping to use Mr. Trump as a cudgel in a Republican primary, making the president a critical dividing line within the GOP. “There is a great opportunity for someone like...

Former State Rep. Joe Carr is challenging incumbent Tennessee Sixth Congressional District Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) 67% in the Republican primary. The vote will be in August. Carr, who narrowly lost to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) 19% in the 2014 Republican U.S. Senate primary in the Volunteer State, says Black is not a conservative. The winner of that primary is expected to easily win the Congressional seat in the heavily Republican district in November’s general election. “Millions of Republicans across the country have voted overwhelmingly to reject the business as usual ‘insider games’ in Washington. We have elected Republican majorities...

HOUSTON, Texas – Today, former three-term State Representative and U.S. Senate candidate Joe Carr endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for President. Carr, a conservative stalwart in the Tennessee state legislature for six years, said Cruz’s proven record of fighting for the issues that matter most to conservatives makes him the best qualified leader to restore American greatness.“Ted Cruz is not only willing to stand firm on principle every time, but has done so when it mattered most,” said Carr. “He has taken on the Establishment in both parties, even when it was unpopular and victory was far from certain. That’s...

Former State Representative Joe Carr is announcing his intention to seek the chairman's seat of the Tennessee Republican Party. Carr believes it's time for change within the Party to create an environment where more participation is encouraged by Republicans throughout the state to bridge a growing divide. The election for the new Chairman is scheduled for Saturday, December 6th in Nashville. The sixty-six members of the State Executive Committee, 33 men and 33 women, will decide how the state party will be led for the next two years. "I've been a Tennessee Republican since 1978, run several successful small businesses,...

The dust has barely settled since Sen. Lamar Alexander beat back a strong challenge from Joe Carr in Tennessee’s Republican primary. Yet here he is, once again, talking up the need for a “comprehensive immigration reform” bill. In other words, amnesty. Via Breitbart.com: “I don’t know how it will affect our politics in the near term,” Alexander told Politico of a comprehensive immigration bill. “I think it’s embarrassing for us not to deal with the problem, and I think we should do it in the next two years.” And though Alexander claimed that he won the primary because he did...

While the election results were heartbreaking, there is much to be encouraged, and yes, even energized about. We did not win, but we are winning. Senator Lamar Alexander did not run away with this election, as most predicted he would. He was forced to buy the election, spending $7 million. He resorted to last minute robo-calls in which he falsely claimed his vote for Senate Bill 744 was a vote against amnesty. In spite of all of this, he could only capture 49.7% of the vote. The award for the tackiest campaign commercial goes to Mike Huckabee, who had nerve...

Today, in Tennessee, the tea party has its last-best chance to beat an incumbent senator in a race that’s a marquee match-up with the GOP establishment. After millions of dollars, the tea party failed to topple incumbent senators in Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, and most recently earlier this week in Kansas. If Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander beats back his tea party challenger state Rep. Joe Carr, this will be the first cycle since 2008 when no incumbent GOP Senator has lost a re-nomination fight. snip FiveThirtyEight’s Take: Polling Past polling in Tennessee primaries has not been terribly accurate. Errors of...

JOHNSON CITY, TN (WJHL) - First, some members of the Grand Old Party were left off the guest list at the big Republican Party in Jonesborough last Friday night. Now, they're saying their political party is quietly trying to take them out ahead of the upcoming primary. Some Republicans are accusing the Tennessee GOP of targeting them ahead of next week's election. An email obtained by News Channel 11 from Republican State Executive Committee member Mark Winslow of Nashville sent to other members Thursday lays out the case. The State Executive Committee is the group that governs the Republican Party....

NASHVILLE - Republican U.S. Senate hopeful George Flinn is now aiming his fire at state Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascasas, the other challenger to Sen. Lamar Alexander in the GOP primary election. Flinn says in a new release issued this morning that like Alexander, Carr has a "history of flip-flopping on important issues, dodging key votes, and being involved in backdoor deals that don’t benefit Tennesseans but himself." “Every voter should demand transparency from candidates and research their records before voting," Flinn says of Carr, a favorite of many in-state Tea Party groups. "Joe Carr, like Lamar has flip-flopped on issues...

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) - In Decision 2014, it is a Republican Primary with many hotly-contested races. One lured two-term US Senator Lamar Alexander to town for a campaign stop at the Brainerd Road Rib & Loin Tuesday evening. Alexander faces six challengers in the August vote with State Representative Joe Carr thought to be the strongest among them. A group of Carr campaigners set up camp in the adjacent parking lot, trying to make their voices heard. "We are here because Lamar Alexander won't answer our questions," said Michael Patrick Leahy, co-founder of the 'Beat Lamar' group. "He won't debate...

Radio show host Laura Ingraham has recorded a robocall in support of Joe Carr in his primary challenge against Republican incumbent Senator Lamar Alexander. “Hey, it’s Laura Ingraham. How's it going?" the call begins. “Now, I know you’ve seen me on TV, might hear me on the radio, but I want to talk to you about my friend state Rep. Joe Carr.” Ingraham explains that Carr “needs to be your next Republican senator,” citing the push for amnesty as a key reason to vote against Alexander. “You currently have hundreds of illegal aliens being dumped into Tennessee, and Lamar Alexander,...

Lamar Alexander, the two-term Republican senator from Tennessee, is in a strong position to win reelection this November. But only if he can get through his August 7 primary. Polling has been scarce in the race between Alexander and his GOP primary challenger, state representative Joe Carr, though the incumbent enjoys advantages in fundraising and name recognition (Alexander twice served as governor in the 1980s). An independent poll in January found Carr down by 40 points. But with Carr getting somewhat of a boost from endorsements by radio host Laura Ingraham and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, an independent outside...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander is planning a 35-stop bus tour of Tennessee ahead of the Aug. 7 primary, his campaign announced this morning. ( You know, cuz he has this election locked up right?) Alexander said in a press release that the tour is inspired by his political mentor, former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, who toured the state by train and bus during his re-election campaign. (I think while I am reading this I will look for inspiration from Steve Martin's Planes, Trains, & Automobiles which will be waaaay more inspiring than Lamar's bus tour) "I learned from Howard...

NASHVILLE, July 23, 2014– U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R) is facing a tough primary challenge from State Rep. Joe Carr (R). Carr’s momentum has built over the months and Lamar is sweating bullets underneath his red flannel shirt. More than 20 state legislators have endorsed Carr over Alexander. They join more than 60 conservative Tennessee organizations, vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin, the National Association for Gun Rights and more. In natural form, Alexander is placing his bets on misleading the Volunteer state on just where his record stands on the issues. Most insulting of all is Alexander’s attempt to...

On Wednesday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin endorsed conservative Tennessee state representative Joe Carr in his primary bid to oust incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Carr has been hammering Alexander before the August 7th primary for voting for the Senate's Gang of Eight comprehensive amnesty bill even after he was warned by law enforcement officials that it would exacerbate the border crisis. Even Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) voted against the final bill. Palin thanked Alexander for his service and then promptly said it is time for new leaders who will have the guts to tell the Obama administration, "no mas."...

The Lamarer is a grassroots video rebuttal to Lamar Alexander's campaign claims that he is a conservative.The Lamarer

Calling someone the “queen of the tea party,” may be an odd appellation for a movement that has no leaders. Sarah Palin was regarded by some as the “queen of the tea party.” Conservatives immediately rallied around her in 2008, when John McCain tapped her to be the vice presidential nominee. She remained popular, but her role with the tea party exploded after the First Tea Party Convention in Nashville in 2010. In 2010, Palin held court and made appearances and endorsements. Those endorsements turned out to be very valuable to candidates in 2010. In 2012, she lost a bit...

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made yet another appearance Monday with Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, who is facing a Tea Party primary challenger. While considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate, Alexander has been working in recent months to look more conservative. Before anyone could ask, Alexander denied that he was trying to get political help from the Tea Party darling. “We’re not here to endorse each other,” he said, without prompting. “Rand hasn’t asked me to endorse me for the President of the United States, and I haven’t asked him to endorse me for the senate. We’re here...

That is again leading to speculation that Sen. Paul will endorse Sen. Alexander’s re-election bid, something he came short of doing in a previous joint media appearance to demonstrate their solidarity with fishermen facing Corp of Engineer restrictions that would keep them from fishing near dams. Given the pair's voting records, which show wide policy fissures, if Sen. Paul does endorse Alexander, it will invite reasonable suspicion that he cares more about Lamar’s ability to help him in his expected 2016 presidential run than he does about the biggest issues facing the country. I have culled, from the Heritage Action...

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has just unleashed his latest endorsement for re-election. It comes from former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and 2008 presidential candidate, has a strong following of social conservatives and activists drawn to his populist political message. "He's been your governor, university president, America's secretary of education. He brought the automobile industry to Tennessee," Huckabee explains in the ad. "Lamar Alexander is now a remarkable senator that Tennessee needs to return to office." (VIDEO-AT-LINK)Alexander has released a series of endorsements in recent days, including that of country music star Kix Brooks and former...