Senator Rosalind Kurita may have lost her write-in campaign last night by a large margin, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’ll be left out of the Senate. There is a lot of talk that the Republican majority in the Senate will refuse to seat Tim Barnes. I spoke with Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey about the issue today. He said, “I want to keep that option open. I don’t know what we’ll do on that. I know that Rosalind Kurita had a great write-in candidacy that fell short. I do believe she won the primary and it was stolen from her.”
I’m going to need a little help from you guys, because I’m not exactly sure what the process is here. When I asked Ramsey about how that happens, he told me it’s ultimately up to the Senate to seat its members. He did mention there was some precedent for this before. If anyone can help me fill in the blanks, I would appreciate it!
I couldn’t find anything in the Senate rules, but in Article II Section 11 of the Tennessee Constitution it says that the members of the house and senate “…shall be judges of the qualifications and election of its members.”
There’s also is article IX that deals with disqualifications. Apparently if you’re a member of the clergy you cannot have a seat in the legislature because God needs you elsewhere. Also, if you deny the existance of God, or if you’ve been involved in a duel you are not allowed to hold a position of service to the state.
Once we purge the athiests from state service, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of money to solve the budget crisis.