Posted on 08/02/2012 10:34:21 PM PDT by SmithL
A four-term member of the state House has been unseated by political newcomer Courtney Rogers who enjoyed the backing of the National Rifle Association. Incumbent Debra Maggart lost the seat after an outside campaign to defeat her.
Maggart became a target after she went along with Republican leadership and helped scuttle a bill allowing gun owners to store weapons in their car while at work.
The NRA and the Tennessee Firearms Association spent a combined $100,000 on ads attacking Maggart. They were ultimately effective, at least on Hendersonville voter Peggy Shoaf.
“You know I want to have my gun in my car if I want it in my car. It’s my car. It’s my gun.”
Shoaf voted instead for Rogers, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who won with 58 percent.
Tennessee Firearms director John Harris helped Rogers celebrate her victory over Maggart Thursday night.
“Unfortunately, it’s Maggart, who was a high school classmate of mine. But she became the one who would make the most significant example.”
Harris says he hopes Maggart’s defeat makes Republican lawmakers think twice on legislation that involves the Second Amendment.
Rogers says she doesn’t feel like she owes the NRA anything.
“I’m still going to analyze, ask questions and things like that, but we have a good start because I already have a propensity to agree with their philosophies.”
Rogers was encouraged to run against Maggart by her campaign manager Jeff Hartline. He spoke longer than the candidate did at her celebration.
“If the people take back what belongs to them, hopefully more and more folks who are sitting in positions of public service will pay better attention to what the people back home say.”
The 45th House district leans heavily Republican, but Rogers still has to face Democrat Jeanette Jackson in the general election.
Left unmentioned is that Rogers is Tea Party.
This is why I DARE the Democrats to focus this election on guns...
...it’s also why they’re stay as far away from the issue as possible.
“Left unmentioned is that Rogers is Tea Party.”
I would also agree. As we see here in Texas, big business has its own priorities, and when one sees the Republicans here siding with big business over conservatives, then one can figure out that the Republicans are owned by big business.
On this issue, big business simply doesn’t like guns - so they tell that to the Republican leaders - and what do you know, legislation to allow guns in parking lots gets bottled up for years.
In fact, it wasn’t until a year ago that we finally changed the laws (and I’m talking Texas here). The vote in the State House last year was 130 to 11. That tells me that there HUGE NUMBERS of representatives that were simply taking orders to bottle up this issue (earlier) and now were finally released to do what the base wanted, rather than what their masters wanted.
...and that’s what gets the Tea Party mad - not the specific issues, necessarily - but the idea that the elected Republicans don’t have to answer to the base who elected them. The Tea Party sees this and continues to take action to remedy the situation - as David Dewhurst, and a number of others, have found out this year.
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