Tennessee Senate Republicans picked Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin as their nominee for the chamber's top job on Tuesday, moving the longtime lawmaker a step closer to becoming both Senate speaker and the state's lieutenant governor. The 27-member Senate Republican Caucus chose Johnson over Sen. Paul Bailey of Sparta during a meeting in Nashville, but Johnson still needs the full Senate to formally elect him when lawmakers convene in January.
According to the Daily Memphian, the caucus made its pick on Nov. 10, setting up Johnson as the nominee heading into next year's organizational session. The Senate's Republican supermajority makes that eventual floor vote largely a formality, though it is not yet finalized. As Tennessee Lookout reported, caucus members declined to reveal how the internal vote broke down between Johnson and Bailey.
A Race Described as Razor-Thin
Ahead of Tuesday's vote, the contest had been characterized as extremely tight. The same outlet's report from the day before the caucus meeting described the Johnson-Bailey matchup as believed to be within one vote, with two senators still uncommitted heading into the gathering. That uncertainty helps explain why a single absent lawmaker's vote became such a flashpoint in the days before the caucus convened.
That absent lawmaker was outgoing Sen. Brent Taylor, who was expected to be in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for congressional organizational meetings and unable to attend the caucus session in person, the outlet reported. To account for his absence, the caucus voted 26-0 to let an attorney representing Taylor cast a vote in his place, according to the same report.
Money and Math Behind the Contest
Campaign finance figures circulating before the vote hinted at the resources each side brought to the race. A separate Tennessee Lookout report from earlier in the month said Johnson's political action committee had contributed roughly $450,000, dwarfing the approximately $63,900 contributed by Bailey's PAC. That same report noted it would take 14 votes within the 27-member caucus to capture the speaker's post, barring a Republican incumbent losing on election night.
At the same meeting where Johnson secured his nomination, the caucus also settled its No. 2 post. Senators selected Sen. Dawn White of Murfreesboro as majority leader by acclamation, per Tennessee Lookout's reporting, filling the leadership slot Johnson currently holds as he moves toward the speakership.
What the Speakership Actually Means
The Senate speaker's job carries weight beyond running floor sessions. The chamber's own description, posted on the Tennessee General Assembly's Senate website, states that the speaker also serves as the state's lieutenant governor and is elected by the full Senate at each organizational session of the General Assembly — the vote now scheduled for January.
For now, Johnson remains a nominee rather than a speaker-elect. The caucus's refusal to disclose the internal vote tally leaves the exact margin of his win over Bailey unknown, and the January floor vote will be the step that actually seats him in the role, pending that formal Senate action.
