House Speaker Kent Williams may be burning his own bridges with Tennessee GOP

Rep. Charles Sargent: Speaker Kent Williams may have thrown the long-serving member under the bus.

Tennessee General Assembly

In the wake of the Tennessee Republican Executive Committee's refusal to even take up the question of whether or not to readmit State House Speaker Kent Williams, speculation has swirled about whether the Executive Committee is purposefully avoiding the issue of Kent Williams, or whether Kent Williams is digging his own grave with the Republican Party. One source close to the situation informed The Examiner that the issue of Williams' re-instatement was brought up at the Friday meeting of the Executive Committee's Administrative Committee by Kelly Wolfe of Carter County, and that Wolfe left that meeting upset. Multiple sources are leaking that Williams' relationship with GOP brass has deteriorated largely because of Williams himself:

I was talking to an SEC member last night. While they wished to remain anonymous they said they did not expect a vote to allow Kent Williams back into the party to even come up for a vote at the next SEC meeting.

I asked why.

The response was Williams disastrous meeting with the Shelby County and surrounding county SEC committee members. I had heard rumor of the meeting a few weeks back but asked for details from someone who was actually there. What happened, I asked.

One question posed to Kent was why he didn't appoint more Republicans to committee chairs. His response was that we didn't have 13 out of 49 Republican members who were even qualified to be chairs of the committees. He then went on to even name specific Republican members (While I was not personally on the short list I know the members named and most would consider those named way more then qualified).

Kent then went on to name off more Republican members (Again, I was not on the list) and say they were "Bad" or "problem" members. The people present wondered if Kent was just pulling names out of thin air because those mentioned were, and are, well thought of members. He went on to attack Jason Mumpower for being "childish" for having over 100 flags flown over the capitol on the first day of session. Little did Kent know the flags were going to be given to the SEC members for their hard work and support for Republicans through the years.

I have heard this story told in similar fashion by miltiple sources, including one respected Statewide (non-elected) Republican political player who actually favors readmitting Kent Williams to the GOP, but said that these comments by Williams did more to hurt his cause with the Executive Committee than anything else he has (or has not) done, and I heard this some three weeks ago. Hence, I believe Rep. Stacey Campfield's version of the story as told him by an SEC member from West Tennessee is probably quite accurate.

More recently, some details have been leaked that in these comments, Williams named names and even threw known supporters or potential supporters under the bus. Apparently, the Speaker doesn't believe that Charles Sargent, who had been opposed to throwing Williams out of the party to begin with, is qualified to chair the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee. Nevermind, of course, that Sargent has one of the best fiscal minds in the House and is respected as such on both sides of the aisle-oh, and he has been in the House three and a half times longer than Kent Williams. Charles Sargent-unqualified...

The Speaker is also said to believe that Matthew Hill isn't qualified to chair any committees. Would that be the same Matthew Hill who is a big part of the Rural Caucus, the majority-Republican group that welcomed Williams before the regular Republican Caucus was even willing? Williams doesn't think Hill is qualified to chair a committee, but Williams, a member in his second term, is qualified to be Speaker of the House and-if we are to believe him-a leader of the Republican Party. Do they smoke the whacky weed at closing time at Dino's?

Kent Williams also is said to have told at least one SEC member that he would be willing to become a Democrat if the Democrats ever gained enough seats. If I were on the outs with the State Republican Party and wanted the party's good grace again, openly stating to those with the ability to grant or deny me the party whip the conditions under which I would plan to join the opposite political party is not something I would consider a very wise public statement. Neither is referring to members such as Mike Bell, who disagree with the Speaker, as "problem members" when you might need that member's help later, especially if they are running for the Senate.

If anyone wonders why the Executive Committee won't likely be readmitting Kent Williams in the near future, the reason may begin with the Speaker himself.

Note: Kelly Wolfe, who represents Carter County on the SEC and is on the Administrative Committee, says he wasn't upset at leaving the meeting because he "knew going in" that chances to bring up Kent Williams' readmission to the party were very slim. Further, Wolfe says that Chairman Chris Devaney made it clear that he didn't want the issue brought up at the regular Saturday SEC meeting. A big part of the reason for that was that those wanting to reinstate Williams "didn't have the votes." Wolfe says he feels obligated to represent the majority of the Republican constituents in his district, the feedback from which has been such that they clearly favor readmitting Kent Williams.