There is a Special Election for State Senator in TN’s 17th district, December 19th, 2017. Yep. In a week. People ask me why the 19th, and I tell them probably because December 25th is on a Monday.
The Republicans picked the closest Tuesday to Christmas possible.
The Republicans called this special election because Mae Beavers, the current Senator for this district, is stepping down. To run for Governor.
She has absolutely no chance of winning, so I’m not sure if this was just a way to get a Republican in the seat, or if she’s even more bat shit crazy than I thought.
Mark Pody is the Republican running to fill Mae Beavers shoes in this Senate seat, and while in a sense, he’s a perfect fit because he’s just as whacko as Senator Beavers, I think it’s time to get off the crazy train and I hope the voters in the 17th District feel the same.
Pody’s positions on most issues are nuttier than that god-awful fruitcake that gets passed around each Christmas. My favorite of his crazy stances was on a Public Health bill for 6 million that stipulated generic condoms could no longer be used. Condoms needed to be name brand.
Now, I don’t know if that’s because research has shown the generic condoms aren’t as reliable or because someone, somewhere, took money from name brand condom companies to get this added. I. Don’t. Care.
This asshat Pody was willing to give up $6 million from the federal government over $80,000. Wait, let me get my calculator… if my math is correct he was willing to give up $5,920,000 over $80,000 worth of condoms. I don’t think the bill ever came to the floor, but FFS!
“They gave me a bill. We’re going to get $6 million from the federal government. And we’re going through it, and they said we’ve got to pay about $80,000 for condoms. And the increase was huge in condoms. I said why. And they said because Tennessee is no longer going to get generic condoms. They had to be name brand. I said you are kidding me? Who would do that? And I said I’m not voting for this.
I’m going to be absolutely saying no. And they said Rep. Pody, this is the truth, this is what the federal government says. I said you go back and find it. I want to see that. And sure enough, the federal government came in and said we can only give name brand. This is incredible costing Tennessee $80,000 more for stupid things like that. We can do a whole lot better with our health care than what’s being done in Washington, D.C.”
You can watch video here:
The Democratic candidate running for this Senate seat is Mary Alice Carfi, an attorney who believes that state Senate District 17 needs a senator who will bring common sense to the chaos in Tennessee’s General Assembly.
Her website says:
Growing up, her family instilled in her the values that she lives by today – faith, family, hard work, and Christ-like compassion.
She comes from a family of farmers, teachers, building contractors, and her dad is a retired major in the Tennessee National Guard.
Mari Alice Carfi and her family. Hopefully our new TN Senator for district 17!
She’s right on the important issues of the day:
~she supports a living wage.
She knows that working families in District 17 need jobs that pay a living wage, so that no one who works a full-time job has to rely on public assistance to survive.
~she thinks TN should have accepted expanded Medicaid
She is aware that five of the six counties in Senate District 17 – Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson – are entirely rural. If one of the hospitals in these counties were to close, the devastating impact would not only be the health care of its citizens but on the county’s economy.
~she understands that education is important for all, “the best investment we can make in our future”, and that education in rural areas should be every bit as good as in urban areas.
She believes less testing of students is needed and that vouchers of any kind should be avoided because they divert resources from already struggling schools.
It’s way late in the game I realize that, but even at this stage every donation counts. Plus don’t forget to email all of your friends to tell them about this election and ask them to email all of their friends. Be sure to remind them the election is the 19th, one week from today. You’d be amazed at how many connections we have in each state without even knowing it.
Tennessee 2017 - Mary Alice Carfi
Tennessee State Senate District 17 -Special Election Dec 19
Checking Pody’s twitter it seems pretty clear to me that there is no need for Republicans to show up and vote. As Chairman of the Tennessee Legislative Prayer Caucus he puts a lot of faith in prayer. For Republicans I think that will do, don’t bother getting out in the cold.
