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The Davidson County Election Commission on Thursday rejected a challenge to Nashville Democratic Rep. Justin Jones’ qualification for the ballot in his bid for reelection.
Jones’ Republican opponent, Laura Nelson, alleged that several of Jones’ petition signatures were not valid. The GOP-controlled commission, after a hearing of more than two hours, decided to accept the signatures.
State law requires 25 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, and Jones turned in just 26, of which 25 were deemed valid.
The meeting was marked by interruptions, cheers and jeers from supporters of Jones and Nelson and, at times, the candidates themselves. Jones sparred with commission chair Jim DeLanis and Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins, who was on hand to advise the commission.
Jones played a recording of a voicemail Nelson left for DeLanis in which the Republican candidate asked for legal advice and said Tennessee Republican Party Chair Scott Golden told her DeLanis was “the man.” Jones asked DeLanis to recuse himself, but the commission chair said he did not engage with the message or provide advice and declined to recuse himself. Jones called Goins the “chief of voter suppression” as the two went back and forth.
“This challenge is not only frivolous, but it is about a pattern of political harassment,” Jones said.
At the hearing, Nelson narrowed her challenge from 10 Jones signatures to three signatures. She argued that none of Jones’ evidence should be considered because it wasn’t submitted until a second supplementary deadline set by the commission, though the commission decided to consider Jones’ evidence.
As the hearing continued, commissioners focused mostly on one Jones signatory, who misspelled her first name in the printed portion of the petition.
“At the end of the day if we don’t know how to spell our own name, we should not be signing this legal document,” Nelson said.
Nelson argued that the signatures of the contested signer, as seen across various government documents, did not match. Commissioner Will Burns, a Republican appointee to the board, was sympathetic to the argument (as was Goins, who did not have a vote in the matter).
“I cannot find any way to justify those two signatures,” Burns said. “There’s not a single letter that closely resembles. I’ve got serious issues with that signature.”
But the ultimate decision started to become clear when DeLanis, another Republican appointee on the five-member board, said he was inclined to accept the signatures. DeLanis said the signatory’s sworn testimony that it was her signature was good enough for him.
The board ultimately voted 3-1 to accept the signatures, with Republican Dan Davis abstaining. Jones and his supporters left the room singing.
“It’s about trying to undo the will of the people of District 52,” Jones said. “They connive and concoct and conspire these backhanded attempts, cheap attempts, pitiful attempts, desperate attempts to try. This challenge is about desperation.”
DeLanis had some unsolicited advice for Jones, urging him to hold a party and gather more signatures next time: “Nobody on this commission decided to turn in 25 names. You’re trying to inflame [your supporters] as if this commission is against you. Nobody’s against you here.”
Nelson said during the hearing that she planned to explore appeal options.
Visit nashvillebanner.com to read a longer version of this story, which includes details on a second DCEC case involving state Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) and his challenge of Republican opponent Jennifer Frensley Webb's qualification.
