Nashville News Blog

Ty Cobb explains to these voters why it's important for Democratic hacks to keep their jobs with the legislature.

​The whole Tennessee political world is watching today's special election in House District 62. For weeks, partisans with nothing better to do have converged on little towns like Shelbyville and Bell Buckle and Eagleville to plant yard signs, knock on doors and staff phone banks. Even House Democratic leader Gary Odom went door-to-door.

On the issues, Republican Pat Marsh and Democrat Ty Cobb are like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Neither has a clue. Voters don't care much, either. Only 4,100 people cast ballots during early voting. No one expects too many more than that to vote today.

But so what? To the winners might go the right to gerrymander their enemies out of existence, and the livelihoods of untold numbers of political hacks are riding on the outcome. Should Marsh win, Republicans would hold 51 seats in the House--three more than Democrats--heading into the 2010 elections.

Tom Humphrey, who lives in Bell Buckle, woke up and walked out his door today to give this report from the front lines:

A morning check at a couple of Bedford County precincts found no one waiting in line to vote in today's House District 62 special election, but a steady trickle of voters appearing under cloudy skies and an occasional drizzle of rain.

Both Republicans pushing Pat Marsh and Democrats backing Ty Cobb had a heavy round of get-out-the-vote efforts on Monday with volunteers knocking on doors and making phone calls.

OK, so it's a big deal to political insiders. But let's not get too carried away. In a story headlined "Why Tennessee's Worth Watching Today," CQ Politics claims Republicans could try to depose House Speaker Kent Williams in next year's session if Marsh wins. Not true.

"Once elected speaker, the election stands for two years," House Republican caucus chair Glen Casada tells Pith, citing an old attorney general's opinion on the topic. "Neither I nor [GOP leader] Jason [Mumpower] nor the leadership has talked about that action at all."

House GOP whip Debra Maggart says Republicans looked it up when Williams was elected speaker in January in his deal with the Democrats. "The speaker remains the speaker," she says with a sigh.

Update: Humphrey wakes up from his afternoon nap and offers more commentary.

Update II: Shaking a leg now with an unusual burst of afternoon energy, Humphrey visits the campaign headquarters and interrogates the strategists. Democrats are employing the old "knock-and-drag" trick, he reports.

Update III: Turnout is so light "you'd hardly know we have an election going on," one official says.