Carr Supporters Track Alexander Bus Tour (primary this Thursday)

Incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) won't debate his primary challenger, state Sen. Joe Carr, so Carr supporters are trying to bring the debate to him.

At a series of recent campaign stops, a group of Carr supporters have been showing up to ask Alexander about his vote for the Senate “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill last year, as well as other topics.

Yesterday, the pro-Carr group “BEAT LAMAR” posted on its Facebook page that Alexander left the back exit of the Clement Railroad Museum in Dickson, Tennessee rather than board his bus and face the activists.

“Once again LAMAR RAN AWAY OUT THE BACK DOOR to avoid questions from our tough crew of patriotic college kids!” the group said.

At another recent campaign stop, the Carr supporters asked Alexander why he supported the Senate's amnesty bill in 2012 and missed a Senate vote last week on the Democrats' border crisis spending bill, which failed to achieve a 60-vote supermajority. (Although missing the vote that brought the bill down, Alexander had voted earlier against bringing the bill to the Senate floor in the first place).

“You've had a busy week! I'll say that for you,” Alexander responded, according to a video posted by the group.

Besides not debating Carr, Alexander has been criticized for not being forthcoming with his views on controversial issues.

All of Tennessee’s Employment Growth Since 2000 Has Gone to Immigrants, Yet Natives Accounted for Two-Thirds of Population Growth

The long-term decline in the employment for natives in Tennessee and the enormous number of working-age natives not working clearly indicates that there is no general labor shortage in the state. So it is very difficult to justify the large increases in foreign workers (skilled and unskilled) allowed into the country through a bill like S.744 that many of the state's politicians support.

Tennessee's working-age immigrant population grew 176 percent from 2000 to 2014, one of the highest of any state in the nation. Yet the number of natives working in 2014 was actually lower than in 2000. This undermines the argument that immigration increases job opportunities for natives.

The Gang of Eight Senate immigration bill (S.744) passed last June would have roughly doubled the number of new foreign workers allowed into the country and legalized millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States. Both Tennessee senators — Lamar Alexander (R) and Bob Corker (R) — voted for it.

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