Free Republic

L. Alexander (i) 52.9% 65,012 J. Carr 38.6% 47,338 G. Flinn 4.2% 5,185 C. Agnew 1.6% 1,971 B. Lenard 1.2% 1,413 J. King 1.1% 1,343 E. Magee 0.4%

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...

Conservative talk-radio host Laura Ingraham urged a ballroom full of Tennessee conservatives on Tuesday night to retire Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) like an “old sweater” that’s gone out of style. "He was really comfortable and sharp looking at one point, but now it just takes up room in your drawer," she said, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Ingraham spoke Tuesday at a 500-strong rally in Nashville for Alexander’s main primary challenger, state Rep. Joe Carr, who’s gained traction in recent weeks in his underdog bid to unseat Alexander. According to reports, she shied away from personal attacks —...

NASHVILLE — A national conservative group said today it is putting $20,000 into get-out-the-vote efforts in hopes of boosting turnout for Republican state Rep. Joe Carr in his GOP primary bid to beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. Jenny Beth Martin, chairman of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund said the money is going to the Real Conservatives National Committee. The goal is beefing up the "ground game" run by the Real Conservatives' "Beat Lamar" campaign, she said. Martin didn't rule out putting more money into the race, saying there "may be more in a week or so." Both...

A rally scheduled for Thursday night has all the makings of a political boon to Tennessee State Sen. Joe Carr, who's challenging Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in the Senate primary. Stars of the Tea Party, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are headlining the event. It's being organized by the Servier County Tea Party, a group that hails from Rep. Phil Roe's (R-TN) R+25 congressional district. And the rally is scheduled for two days after the Mississippi runoff, which, if state senator Chris McDaniel wins, could give Carr additional political momentum. But Steve Osborn, the Chairman of the Sevier Country...

Washington remains in shock today, two days after an unknown college professor upset House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. The political earthquake is still reverberating around D.C. And many people are now asking, “Who is the next Dave Brat?” His name is Joe Carr, and he’s taking on Lamar Alexander, the liberal Republican senator from Tennessee.

RINO stumbling ? New polling data released today shows Lamar Alexander losing ground in Volunteer state wide polling. Ken Buck, director of the MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro) poll , said that Alexander’s approval  level has dropped from 54% approval down to 43% among all voters.  The trend was worse among independent voters, plunging 22 points to a 36% approval , down from 58%. Republicans were 29% favoring Alexander in his primary against (largely unknown) state representative Joe Carr. Fourteen percent of Republicans favor “SOMEONE ELSE” and 8% favor Carr , a tea party favorite. Forty five percent were...

Our friend Michael Patrick Leahy, co-founder of BEAT LAMAR, today called-out Tennessee's establishment Republican Senator for his phony and disingenuous TV commercial on Obamacare. “Senator Alexander’s recently released television commercial makes the false claim that he ‘stands up strong’ against Obamacare,” said Leahy. “Such a demonstrably untrue claim deserves four Pinocchios,” Leahy stated. “At every significant step since its passage, Lamar Alexander has in reality served as the number one enabler of Obamacare in the Republican Party.” Leahy pointed out that “Senator Alexander’s false claim that he has resisted Obamacare arises from a series of timid statements he made to...

In 2008 I wrote a letter to Lamar Alexander asking for a financial donation of just $50 to help me help orphans in Africa, contribute to African Orphans Educations, etc. I thought Lamar Alexander would actually support the cause. You can read the PDF here. I was travelling there – and raising funds not only for travel but for direct giving as well as a long term education program to offer African orphans educational opportunities. I thought writing Lamar Alexander would do some good. I thought he might help. We had just had 2 terms of George W. Bush who...

State Representative Joe Carr, Senator Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) Tea Party backed challenger in the 2014 Tennessee Republican Senate primary, blasted Alexander today for his refusal to stand with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and defund Obamacare. "Senator Lamar Alexander has refused to join Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to defund Obamacare claiming it would cause a government shutdown. Although Senator Lamar Alexander agrees with Obama on this point, it is false," Carr said in a statement released by his campaign today. "Obamacare is bad for America and we should be doing everything possible to stop it," Carr continued. "I choose...

The tea party settled one question this afternoon at a meeting to audition candidates to challenge Sen. Lamar Alexander in next year’s GOP primary. Both Joe Carr and Kevin Kookogey promised they'll drop out of the picture if tea partiers are rallying behind the other guy. Carr, a three-term state representative from Murfreesboro, took the pledge in his opening statement to the crowd of roughly 300 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. It was the first of five meetings to vet potential challengers to Alexander and to conduct secret straw polls. At the end of September, tea partiers will add...

Gannett link only: http://www.wbir.com/news/article/285413/2/Lamar-Alexander-Bob-Corker-blasted-by-tea-party-leaders-as-gutless-cowards

State Representative Joe Carr announced on Ralph Bristol's Nashville talk radio program on Tuesday that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate. Carr will compete against incumbent Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) in the party's August 2014 primary. Bristol had promised his listeners on Monday that someone would make a "major announcement" that will "alter the Tennessee political landscape," and at 7:10 in the morning Joe Carr delivered on that promise. "I am announcing as a candidate for the United State Senate," Carr told Bristol. Carr left no doubt with whom he will stand in...

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is ramping up his 2014 reelection bid with 2012 barely in the rearview mirror. The timing is no coincidence, with the past two election cycles illustrating that early action is the most effective way for vulnerable Republicans to deter primary threats. To wit: Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who charted starkly different paths in 2012. Hatch will return to Congress in 2013, while Lugar will not. “It sends a message that Tennessee Republicans have their house in order,” said a Republican close to Alexander. “We’re not going to stand around slinging mud at...