Chip Forrester, New State Party Chair
Tony Webb, Brandon Cook and I spent the better part of last Saturday morning driving to Nashville to attend the Tennessee State Association of County Chairs. This is one of the few forums where Democrats from across the state can share ‘get out the vote’ and fundraising ideas as well as renew old acquaintances. Of particular interest to me at this meeting was a review of the best practices and requirements for county reorganization. All counties in Tennessee must complete their reorganization between March 28th and April 4th . We only do this once every other year. A complete review is always a good thing. For more information about how we’ll reorganize the Blount County Democratic Party see the ‘Get Involved’ tab (at the top of the page) for details. The exact date will be announced soon.
We stuck around for the afternoon session of the State Party Executive Committee. State Party Chair Gray Sasser, a good friend to Blount County, has decided not to seek reelection. Too bad. Gray is a good man and excellent leader. His decision not to run forced some drama into an otherwise predictable election process.
The two contenders, Charles Robert Bone and Chip Forrester, have been pressing hard for support among the Executive Committee members. Charles Robert, a well connected, well heeled Nashville lawyer known as a premier fundraiser was backed by the Governor and and a long list of the party establishment. Chip, State Party Treasurer and long time political operative seemed to attract support from more rural county members. I couldn’t help but notice most of the East Tennessee Executive Committee members were sporting “Forrester for Chair” colors. Surprisingly there was even a loud well-coordinated contingent of Obama supporters in gallery during the election process supporting Forrester. I guess there is life after the inauguration.
