Two new members join the Davidson County Election Commission.
The state election commission on Monday appointed the new Republicans Dan Davis and Ross Evans. State Senator Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, nominated the two along with incumbent Jim DeLanis for the panel.
“I’m very happy about these dates,” said Haile in a statement. “We have assembled a very strong team of Conservatives who are committed to obeying Tennessee law and ensuring that our Davidson County elections are conducted with the utmost integrity.”
Davis is a coach and instructor with a “solid background” in government and constitution, said Haile. Ross, a retired IBM engineer, has a background in business and technology.
They will join Democratic Commissioners AJ Starling and Tricia Herzfeld, who were each reappointed on Monday.
The commissioners are appointed for a two-year term on the first Monday in April of every odd year. The district delegation of each party in the legislature appoints members for their district election committee.
The power to recommend Republican commissioners fell to Haile as the only Republican in Nashville’s Statehouse delegation. Haile represents a small part of the county.
Having a majority in the state assembly gives Republicans a 3-2 lead over the county’s electoral commissions, even in Democratic Davidson County. The Davidson County Republican Party had tried to get Haile to pile the five-member panel with two different candidates who would support the recent initiative to vote on the property tax.
James Garrett, Davidson County’s GOP Chairman, congratulated the new commissioners on Monday.
The newly formed electoral body will meet on Tuesday and vote for a new chairman and secretary before taking on the latest petition from Attorney Jim Roberts and 4GoodGovernment.
Roberts is keen to propose a number of changes to the Metro Charter to voters, including a property tax rollback.
When enough signatures have been collected for the petition, the commissioners will debate whether the proposed constitutional changes are valid and can vote for a special election this summer. Or they seek a judicial opinion, as was the case last year when Roberts first tried to raise the question of property tax before voters. A judge eventually ruled that his efforts were invalid.
Yihyun Jeong reports on politics in Nashville for the USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.