When driving through the outskirts of Nashville, heading north, you’ll come across a seemingly unremarkable building that houses the election commission of Sumner County, Tennessee. This modest warehouse, constructed from brick and with some additional offices attached, provides just enough space for the commission’s employees, recently acquired voting machines, and a few maintenance workers. It’s a far cry from the grandeur one might expect of a headquarters, but its location in the exurbs of Nashville doesn’t immediately suggest anything controversial.
However, since the Constitutional Republicans gained power in Sumner County’s local elections, this unassuming building has become a focal point of conflict. To truly understand this story, it’s essential to recognize that the typical forms of political polarization seen across America do not apply in Sumner. In this rural county rapidly transitioning into a suburban area, Democrats have no presence at all—they haven’t held any county office for over 20 years. Instead, the primary opposition to the Constitutional Republicans, who secured 14 out of 17 county commission seats (in an election with a meager 15% voter turnout), comes from the ordinary Republicans, derogatorily labeled as RINOs (Republicans in name only) by their opponents. According to the Constitutional Republicans’ website, RINOs differ from them in key ways: they support tax increases, attempt to suppress citizen voices, and fail to protect property rights. The Constitutional Republicans claim to be the true champions of constitutional conservatism, contrasting themselves with these supposed impostors.
Once in power, the Constitutional Republicans wasted no time in making their agenda known. They issued a formal document declaring their commitment to reflecting Judeo-Christian values foundational to the nation, shut down the HR department, attempted to privatize a public historic building, and refused to fund the election commission’s move to the brick building—despite this arrangement being agreed upon by the previous administration. The election commission’s prior space, situated in the basement of the county-administration building, was unsuitable due to its small size, vulnerability to flooding, and lack of security. However, the county commissioners were unfazed by these concerns. Jeremy Mansfield, a Constitutional Republican on the county commission, bluntly told the election commission that if they didn’t receive funding, they wouldn’t get the move they needed. In a subsequent meeting, another county commissioner threatened to declare the new building surplus and sell it, leaving the election commission and its machines without a home.
At first glance, it may seem excessive to be embroiled in such controversy over a seemingly insignificant building. However, examining Facebook posts, videos of public meetings, and other online sources reveals that this dispute carries weight beyond jurisdictional conflicts. The Constitutional Republicans are anything but inconsequential individuals. They possess grand ambitions and broader interests that extend far beyond Sumner County. Their Facebook page boldly proclaims the Biden family to be an organized crime syndicate and accuses the justice system of being rigged against Trump. They even pose the question of whether Tennessee should secede from the Union. Jeremy Mansfield, though declining an interview request, has articulated his skepticism towards early voting and voting machines, advocating for a return to paper ballots counted locally on election day.
These confident views held by the Constitutional Republicans are rooted in their religious convictions. The party’s website emphasizes their belief system derived from the Bible, evident in their practice of beginning each meeting with prayer and seeking divine wisdom in their decision-making. They are convinced that their adversaries are misguided in their beliefs. Jeremy Mansfield, expressing his frustration towards critics attacking him for opposing new developments in the county, wrote on Facebook, “Evil never sleeps, so we must heed Churchill’s words, never give in, and never give up fighting for what is good and right.”
Many of their grand aspirations may ultimately prove unattainable. The Sumner County commissioners cannot arrest President Joe Biden, nor can they secede from the Union. However, they can exert their influence over the local election commission—a tangible embodiment of the governance they distrust and the broader culture they disdain. By pushing to relocate the agency back to its inadequate basement location prone to flooding, they aim to reaffirm their opposition to the status quo.
Tom Lee, the lawyer representing the Sumner election commission in its lawsuit against the county, provides additional insights into the Constitutional Republicans’ motivations. Lee highlights how this faction desires radical, revolutionary change, disregarding any decisions made by their predecessors. According to Lee, they view themselves as representing something entirely new and different, free from any obligation to honor the past. When I jokingly compared their language to that of Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries, Lee did not find it amusing.
Tennessee politics rarely attracts national attention. However, in April, the Republican supermajority in the state’s House of Representatives made headlines when they expelled two Democratic legislators, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. The grounds for expulsion were their alleged disruption of proceedings by echoing the demands of gun-control activists using a megaphone during a recess. The punishment meted out was seen as excessive—only two individuals had been expelled from the Tennessee legislature since Reconstruction, one for bribery and the other for alleged sexual misconduct—and racially motivated, as it targeted two young Black men. The incident sparked outrage and cast the expelled representatives, alongside Representative Gloria Johnson, who was allowed to retain her seat, as heroes, earning them the moniker “the Tennessee Three.” However, their story did not originate on that fateful day. Not long ago, Tennessee exemplified bipartisanship and served as a model for other states. It was a time when moderate Democrats and liberal Republicans governed, producing senators like Alexander, Baker, Gore, and Sasser. Many decisions that laid the foundation for the state’s current economic growth were made during this period. Keel Hunt, a columnist for the Tennessean newspaper, describes this era of bipartisanship in his book “Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America.” However, the political landscape has drastically shifted since then, rendering Hunt’s book more of an obituary than a celebration of Tennessee’s bipartisan success.
Today, Tennessee stands as an exemplification of one-party rule. Republicans govern the state from the governor’s office to the legislature, with the Republican Party’s appointees even presiding over the state supreme court. The state’s congressional representation overwhelmingly comprises Republicans, with only one Democratic representative. Notably, the attorney general and secretary of state are appointed positions, both currently held by Republicans.
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