1983 Tennessee House floor debate on district election legislation with Knoxville's Pete Drew

This is audio from the 1983 TN House debate on the district election bill. The bill was adopted that year and is the basis for the 2023 district election bill. This 3-minute clip includes the bill sponsor former 15th District State Rep Pete Drew, of Knoxville former Democrat now Republican. Former 13th District State Rep Ted Ray Miller, of Knoxville, Democrat, in opposition to bill. Former 16th District State Rep Charles Severance, of Knox County, Republican, in support of bill. 1983 heard some of the same arguments for and against as heard in 2023.

For more context, please see the statement below from current 18th District State Representative Elaine Davis after the passage of her 2023 district election bill.

House Bill 817 and Senate Bill 526 were introduced to make sure all Tennesseans have fair elections and registered voters in districts are not disenfranchised by registered voters outside of their district.

In 1983, Knoxville’s former Democrat State Representative Pete Drew introduced House Bill 381 to create a new Tennessee general election law because he felt that some Tennesseans were being disenfranchised in district elections. HB381 became law as part of the Public Acts of 1983, Chapter 404. Today that public act is current general election law in the Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 6-53-110.

The most important part of TCA 6-53-110 is the first subsection ((a)(1)(A)(B)(2)) which was referred to in 1983 as the “brainchild” of Rep. Drew. This establishes the intent that if a candidate is nominated by a district they must be elected by that district. Through multiple amendments, including from legislators other than Rep. Drew, the 1983 bill was changed in the lower subsections which created exemptions to the first subsection.

Forty years later, HB817/SB526 supports the intent of former Rep. Drew by amending the law to delete those exemptions and make it clear that if a candidate is nominated by a district’s registered voters they must be elected by that district’s registered voters.

The Tennessee Constitution, TCA 6-53-110, and local charters all agree that the Tennessee General Assembly has final authority on general election law. HB817/SB526 is general election law because it impacts multiple communities across Tennessee. The 1983 act was also general election law, and it was enacted that year despite some local elected city officials opposing it with their concerns about home rule and charter.

District voters being disenfranchised has been a problem for decades and it is what prompted the 1983 law. In 1983, on the House floor Rep. Drew mentioned he was aware of four examples of candidates who won their districts but lost the election to the voters outside of the district. Since 1983, there have been at least six more examples, including four more from Knoxville in the 1997, 2009, 2017, and 2021 city elections. Two examples from Morristown in their 2021 city election.

HB817/SB526 does not change any Tennessee law regarding partisan elections. Any claim otherwise has no factual basis.