Tennessee Republican issues warning for his own party
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A leading Tennessee Republican offered a warning to his party as he prepares to leave office.
"We have people on my side that are doing everything they can to pull us further right and further right," outgoing state Rep. Jeremy Faison said in a new docuseries analyzing politics in the South.
- "And I'm like, 'That's not where America's at.'"
What he's saying: "If we're not careful, our party is gonna continue to meddle with stuff that has nothing to do with anything — that is not what all of Tennessee cares about — and we'll lose our super majority."
The big picture: Faison made the remarks on "Long Play," a series and podcast from the progressive media company Crooked Media that analyzes Democratic momentum in some Southern states.
- Hosts Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, and Democratic strategist Jennifer Palmieri highlighted Tennessee as a state where Republicans have established a vise-like grip on politics.
- Palmieri said most Republicans didn't want to talk to them about the dynamic.
Zoom in: Faison, who is retiring this year after 16 years representing Cosby, said his party's extreme positions were part of his decision not to seek reelection.
- While discussing the factors behind his move, he mentioned the effort to allow public schools to reject undocumented students. Other Republican leaders backed the bill, but he voted against it.
- "That bill didn't pass, thank goodness," Faison said. "But that's kind of where the mainstream GOP is at."
Reality check: While Faison was wary of the trajectory of his party, he leaves the General Assembly with a staunchly conservative record.
- He has chaired the House Republican Caucus since 2019, and was a prominent supporter of many of his party's major priorities.
Even so, he said, he has felt pushback from his colleagues.
- "When I got elected, I was considered like this far-right wing Tea Party knuckle-dragging Neanderthal," he joked. "Turns out now that there's a good portion of my caucus who think I'm pretty moderate to liberal.
- "We're allowing some of the more extremes to set the tone."
Zoom out: The episode also covered the recent Memphis redistricting fight, which Faison defended, as well as the long-standing tensions between the state and Nashville's progressive leadership.
- "The national Republican strategy right now is to attack cities," Mayor Freddie O'Connell said.
- "Basically, if a Democratic city is becoming too successful, they can come put the cram-down on it."