TENNESSEE BULLET POINTS 8-7-26

What does one trip to Israel do? One trip changes people's faith, their identity, their perspective. One trip changes the response when people chant from the river to the sea. One trip changes how people see right and wrong. One trip changes the idea of home. One trip changes everything. And one donation is all it takes. What does one trip to Israel do? One trip changes people's faith, their identity, their perspective. One trip changes the response when people chant from the river to the sea. One trip changes how people see right and wrong. One trip changes the idea of home. One trip changes everything. And one donation is all it takes. Mike Drop, hosted by former Navy SEAL Mike Ridland. How would you characterize your prowess? I'd say my style is that I just kind of outwork everybody until I get there because I'm not a quitter. It's just you. And that's yourself. There's everything else is team-oriented. The motivation, it was a sort of anger at myself for being weak. That ends up being the driving factor. That anger, that pride, that ego, I think it's a muscle. It gets stronger. When you take that voice seriously, you start to change your life. Mike Drop, follow and listen on your favorite platform. Welcome back to Yefee Live. This is Talk Radio 102.3, doing my part to make radio great again. Also to make podcasts great again. If you missed the show live, the podcast will be up on the website, WGOW.com or anywhere you get your podcast. In a couple of minutes, we'll speak with Matt Murphy. He's a talk show host out of WTN in Nashville. Right now, though, let's get to the headlines. A lot of election results in the headlines today. We have those Tennessee bullet points. The Tennessee bullet points, the top headlines from around the volunteer state. Sponsored by the Tennessee Conservative. My latest interview with them is up on their website. Go to Tennessee Conservative News.com. Number four today, Bessley and Wickman, unseat incumbents. shifting the Hamilton County Commission political makeup. According to the Times Free Press here, Democrat Montreal Besley, unseated Republican incumbent John Graham in Hamilton County Commission District 11, winning by 608 votes. This is a rematch of their narrow 2022 contest. We also have Democrat Joshua Wickman led against Republican incumbent Mike Chauncey in District 8. Now, Democrat David Sharp also easily retained his district six seat against an independent. These results added at least one more Democratic member to the 11-seat commission, which handles budgets, taxes, zoning, and school funding, as you know. It shifted its political balance and aligned party representation with the school board across all districts, as several other Republican incumbents led their races as well. So changed a little bit in the Hamilton County Commission. But one thing in terms of Hamilton County that did not change is Weston Womp did win re-election as Hamilton County Mayor. That's number three today. Republican incumbent Weston Wombe narrowly defeated Democrat Mark Herndon to secure a second term as Hamilton County Mayor. Now Womp earned about 52.5% of the vote. So it's 33,840 to 30,665.

Kind of close, but Wamp still was able to win in a race that remained tight for much of election night with frequent lead changes. Now Wamp, as you know, his family has deep political ties in the area, including his sister as district attorney and father as a former U.S. Congressman, plans to focus on completing initiatives from his first term, especially when it comes to expanding technical education centers for high school students. and has pledged this will be his final term after eight years. I heard him on Jen and J.R. this morning talking about that, that he is still keeping to that pledge. This will be his final term, so it's kind of interesting. Herndon, a contractor who entered politics after his son's suicide amid debates over school mental health services, had campaigned on an increased school funding infrastructure, transparency, and extending a data center moratorium. Also expressed gratitude and hope despite the loss. So there you go. West of Wamp's still in there. Number two today and I had a text or say they were really happy about this one. But State Representative Michelle Renault beats a primary challenger for re-election to the state house. So incumbent Republican Tennessee State Representative Michelle Renault of Hickson defeated primary challenger Tony Hollander. In the primary for the state house district spanning from Lookout Valley to Flat Top Mountain, she secured nearly 60% of the vote, which is pretty good. It was about 6,030 votes to 4,313 votes. Renault, a one-term representative first elected in 2024. That was after a narrow primary win over Patsy Hazelwood, if you remember that. describes herself as a constitutional conservative aligned with Make America Healthy Again policies. Her campaign consultant emphasized her commitment to constituents over insiders. Now Hollander, who lost a former attorney for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee and the state attorney general's office with a military background, conceded and focused his campaign on affordability issues while positioning himself as a Reagan-style moderate. Renel will face Democrat Paige Kieran in the November 3rd General Election. And number one, we talked about it at the beginning of the show a little bit, but not too surprising. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn wins the Republican nomination for Tennessee Governor. So U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee won the Republican nomination for governor on Thursday. positioning her as the likely next governor of the GOP-dominated state and its first female governor after term-limited Governor Bill Lee. The 74-year-old, a Trump ally who entered the race after her 2024 Senate re-election, defeated U.S. Representative John Rose and State Representative Monty Fritz, despite limited public events and debates. But she had strong endorsements and fundraising, of course. She has pledged to uphold conservative policies on immigration, crime taxes, and alignment with Trump's agenda, and will face Democrat Jerry Green, a Memphis City Council member in November. Now, the first time both major parties have nominated women for the office, which is kind of interesting. And I did see that Trump, I'll try to pull it up here, but Trump did mention as well.