KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Several Republican Tennessee lawmakers who had served for years lost their seats Thursday night in statewide primary elections.
Republican State Sen. Frank Niceley lost to Jessie Seal, who captured around 55% of the vote. Niceley served for around 12 years in the Tennessee House of Representatives before winning election to the Senate in 2013.
Republican Rep. Bryan Richey also lost to Tom Hatcher in a race to get his party's nomination in a race to replace retiring Senator Art Swann. Richey served as a state representative since 2022 and was running for a seat in the Tennessee Senate this year.
A Republican senator from Bristol, Jon Lundberg, also lost his party's nomination to Bobby Harshbarger. Lundberg has been a state senator since 2016 and only captured around 48% of the vote.
Republican Representative John Ragan from Oak Ridge lost to Rick Scarbrough, a former police chief in Clinton. Ragan represented his district in the House of Representatives since 2011 and captured around 47% of the vote.
Scarbrough's campaign was marked by around $14,400 in aggregate contributions by the Team Kid PAC — a group that gave money to candidates who either advocated for universal school voucher proposals or did not speak against them.
Democratic Representative Sam McKenzie retained his party's nomination against Dasha Lundy. The Lundy campaign also saw around $10,000 in contributions from the Team Kid PAC. McKenzie voted against universal school vouchers in the previous legislative session.
In November, voters will cast their ballots to decide the people will serve in the state and federal House of Representatives, Senate and also in the White House.