No. 667: Justin Jones is bad at his job

Good afternoon, everyone.

Yesterday afternoon, Justin Jones held an impromptu press conference to blame the Tennessee Republican Party for the dozen or so dorks who marched through downtown on Saturday waving Nazi flags.

The contention has been that TRP rhetoric encouraged such groups. I'd make the opposite contention that racial rhetoric from the left has emboldened them, but I don't expect to find much common ground regarding who is to blame for a group driving down from Maine to march through Nashville.

Whatever the case, and whatever you think, Jones unsurprisingly leaped at the opportunity to call the TRP a white supremacist organization—again. One-trick pony.

“Division is not an accident, it is a strategy,” Jones declared after a slew of half-truths.

Astute observers thought to themselves, “That sounds like your strategy.”

Today, we remind you that Jones is bad at his job and set you up for the presidential primary election that is active right now.

Onward.

❒ JUSTIN JONES IS BAD AT HIS JOB

From Megan Podsiedlik

“A Tennessee legislative staffer has been placed on leave after Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones says the staffer yelled at him in a hallway,” reads the first line of an AP article. The incident occurred after the legislative aide apparently confronted Jones over his taking money in exchange for pictures, an accusation we originally saw posted, then deleted by Danny D. Glover who serves as a Special Assistant at TSU and was accompanying students at the Tennessee Capitol in January.

The aide was given a disciplinary suspension until May 3rd: “On the evening of January 9, 2024, you were in an inappropriate confrontation with a Member of the House of Representatives,” states the letter the aide received from Connie Ridley, the legislature’s administrative director.

This is the latest reported row involving Jones, who seems constitutionally incapable of avoiding conflict with those around him. On June 10th, 2020, then-activist Jones helped launch a protest after legislators shot down a bill to remove the capitol’s Nathan Bedford Forrest bust. On June 18th, Jeneisha Harris, co-founder of the National Black Action Committee, took to Facebook.

“I have to speak about this publicly because my spirit won’t let me sleep tonight if I don’t,” she wrote, before accusing Jones of witnessing and purposely ignoring two sexual assaults that took place during the weeklong demonstration. Though we have made numerous attempts to contact Harris about the incident, she has not come forward to clarify her accusation. The post is flooded with comments describing less-than-satisfactory encounters with Jones, of which we have made inquiries to no avail. That being said, Harris’ post remains available for public view.

❏ EARLY VOTING: PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

From Megan Podsiedlik

We’re five poll days into early voting for March 5th’s presidential primary. So far, 5,912 Davidson County residents have pulled the lever, which is about half of the 11,804 Nashvillians who cast early votes at the same point during the mayoral primary last August. The numbers aren’t too surprising considering the ballot, which contains a handful of local elections that attract less attention than a mayoral race, and the Democratic side of the primary ticket, which has just one choice: sitting President Joe Biden.

Since the ballot was codified at the beginning of last month, the candidates listed as Republican may be a bit confusing. Though every frontrunner besides Donald J. Trump and Nikki Haley has bowed out of the race, you’ll still see Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, and Asa Hutchinson on the ballot. Also included are Ryan Binkley, the Texas-based pastor and businessman who challenged Trump during the Nevada caucus, and David Stuckenberg, an inventor, entrepreneur, and former Air Force combat pilot who is calling his late addition to the race “Operation Dark Horse.” 

REPUBLICAN DELEGATES

It’s important to take note of the Republican delegates. As candidates battle it out in early primary states, they amass delegates along the way. Those delegates will then, in theory, support their respective candidates at the party convention, where nominees are chosen. Each party has a slightly different process in choosing their delegates, and in Tennessee, 41 out of 58 Republican delegates are selected by popular election— hence their appearance on the Super Tuesday ballot.

If you pull a Republican primary ballot, you’ll be able to select a total of 17 delegates: 14 at-large, and three for your congressional district. Most of these delegates pledge allegiance to certain presidential candidates. You can align your delegate vote with who you want to see voted as the presidential nominee during the convention. The commitments made by the delegates on this year’s ballot include pledges to Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and non-runner Ron DeSantis.  

NO DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES

In contrast, if you pull a Democratic primary ballot, you’ll notice that there are no delegates listed. This is simply because there is no popular vote conducted for those positions by the TNDP. The City of Milwaukee will host the Republican National Convention this July, and Chicago will host the Democratic National Convention in August.

HEADLINES

Nashville, Memphis given 'C' in Financial State of the Cities report (Center Square) Memphis ranked 44th and Nashville ranked 48th out of the top 75 U.S. cities in the report from the think tank that analyzes government financial reporting. The methodology is to examine the cities' bills, their respective number of taxpayers and determine if there is burden or surplus for each.

Former State Rep. Brandon Ogles Announces Bid for Congressional Seat (Scene) Ogles, cousin of U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles and Republican who represented Williamson County in the state House from 2018 to 2022, is the first Republican to confirm a run for the seat, though it's unlikely he'll be the last.

Officials won’t say which companies benefit from $1.2B tax refund. Property records provide a clue. (Lookout) The most valuable assets controlled by those four companies and dozens of others are available to the public because bond documents require counties to list their 10 largest property asset taxpayers. The records don’t provide a complete picture of every asset a company owns and exemptions in the state’s records laws prevent the public from knowing how much corporations pay in taxes.

DEVELOPMENT

• Developer Seeks To Rezone 22-Acres Near The Airport In Nashville (Now Next)
• Hyatt Place Green Hills Officially Opens In Nashville (Now Next)
• Choy Restaurant headed for former Tansuo space in the Gulch (NBJ)
• Status unclear of proposed Edgehill project (Post)
• Geodis Park-area commercial property listed for $2M (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🪕 The Shedhouse Trio w/ C.J. Lewandowski @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info

🎸 Time is Tight February Residency - A Tribute to Booker T. & The M.G.'s @ Dee's Lounge, 8:30p, Info

💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 8p, Free, Info

🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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