RuCo may lose 62nd District in 2012 on The Murfreesboro Post

Sidebar Ads

RuCo may lose 62nd District in 2012

Related Articles

Joe Carr wants to represent you

TN REPORT: Haslam signs off on voter ID law

Carr raises $200,000 for congressional campaign

TN Report: Voter ID bill passes

TN Report: Voters to decide amendment on judicial selection

Ketron bill will allow student IDs as voter ID

Rutherford County delegation stays busy during recess

Murder, muslims, money dominate 2012 news

Election observer finds similarities with US

La Vergne Aldermen sworn in

View All

By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Friday, October 9, 2009 1:20 pm

With all the hype from the political parties and commercials, voters should be more excited about the race to fill the 62nd State House of Representatives seat.

Early voting in the election ended yesterday with a whopping 64 of 2,412 eligible Rutherford countians casting ballots.

Bedford County saw a slightly better turn out with 2,641 of about 23,000 voters cueing up early. Lincoln County than more than 1,200 showing up at the polls.

Even with a seemingly apathetic district, the Democrats and Republicans are waging a war with each other over the seat.

Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Jonathan Fagan jumped into the fray Thursday and demanded an explanation from Republican candidate Pat Marsh after calling attention to conflicting statements by the Republican State House Candidate.

“Rutherford County voters should take note of what Marsh says while he is in Lincoln County or Bedford County,” Fagan said. “He ran a newspaper advertisement touting his intent to redraw House District 62 to only include Bedford and Lincoln counties.

Fagan said Marsh ran newspaper advertisements in Lincoln County's Elk Valley Times vowing to exclude Rutherford County from the 62nd House district by redrawing district boundaries to include only Lincoln and Bedford Counties, but told a Rutherford County newspaper he will represent Rutherford County’s interests too.

Member of the Republican State Executive Committee representing Rutherford County Tim Rudd agreed that Rutherford County will likely gain a new state House seat in the next redistricting in 2012, regardless of who is elected.

“With our population growth, … whomever is elected in the current 62nd District will most likely not represent us after 2012,” Rudd said. “Pat has pledge to try and keep Lincoln and Bedford together during redistricting (they already make up over 90 percent of the District). Pat Marsh will represent Rutherford County with distinction and honesty for as long as we remain a part of the 62nd District.”

Rudd has a point. The 62nd district only covers a small portion of Rutherford County, including three precincts: Blackman United Methodist Church, Eagleville Community Center and Rockvale Community Center.

But Fagan insisted it’s the double talk from the Republican that concerns him.

“When he is here in Rutherford County, he promises to work hard for us if he is elected. Sounds to me like Mr. Marsh is talking out of both sides of his mouth. We don’t need a state representative who only pays attention to Rutherford County when he’s pandering for a vote,” Fagan said.

Rudd countered it is Fagan that’s pandering to the voters.

“The fact is Pat Marsh will be there for us, because he is one of us,” Rudd said.

Maybe with all the fighting, more voters will turn up Tuesday for the general election.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under 62nd District, Elections, Jonathon Fagan, Pat Marsh, Tim Rudd, Ty Cobb

Member Opinions:

By: ItsGood on 10/9/09
People do not care about elections. The Government should start appointing people to these positions, then the voters will get really upset.

By: ItsGood on 10/9/09
Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Jonathan Fagan - why did Cobb avoid all three times Town Hall Meetings for discussions / questions with voters? What was he hiding?

By: Culpepper on 10/11/09
itsgood,

why did marsh refuse to face the voters at yesterday's bedford courthouse town hall? it was moderated by the non-partisan local newspaper, is that why? does marsh only show up to staged events? why did he not exp[ain his conflicting statements to the post when they called him? maybe because he is AWOL when it comes to facing the voters.