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Tennessee: Senate balance at play

By: Andy Sher
(Contact)

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NASHVILLE — The gloves are off in a key state Senate race that could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the chamber next year.

In a Senate 12th District ad that aired last week, the Tennessee Democratic Party portrays Republican Ken Yager as the “Taxman,” charging he raised property taxes 11 times resulting in a 45 percent overall increase during his 24-year tenure as Roane County executive.

The Senate is currently divided 16 to 16 with one seat held by an independent. Republicans control the leadership positions. The 12th District seat is now held by Sen. Tommy Kilby, D-Wartburg, who is not seeking reelection.

“Do you like paying more?” an announcer says in the 30-second spot, using a tone reminiscent of a 1950s or 1960s movie ad trailer. “Well, coming this November, if you’re not careful, ‘The Taxman’ — starring and directed by Ken Yager.”

Republicans labeled the ad a desperate “smear” and demanded Democrats and Mr. Yager’s Democratic opponent, Morgan County Executive Becky Ruppe, take the ad down.

“Ken absolutely did not increase property tax rates by 45 percent in Roane County,” Tennessee Republican Party spokesman Bill Hobbs said. “Property values went up, thanks to Ken’s success in building the Roane County economy.”

Yager campaign manager Robert Kuykendall acknowledged that while tax rates went down, that doesn’t mean the tax burden didn’t increase.

Mr. Yager served as county executive from 1982 to 2006, Mr. Kuykendall said, and “over 24 years, 45 percent is lower than the rate of inflation. If they want to talk about numbers and going up, do the math.”

Senate Democratic Caucus press secretary Mark Brown said the ad was an independent expenditure by state Democrats’ coordinated campaign. The ad was not discussed in advance with the Ruppe campaign.

“We’re flaming the torch for voters here,” Mr. Brown said, noting that “everything” in the ad is documented. “We feel they (voters) need to know Ken Yager’s true record.”

The Democratic ad is on broadcast/ cable television in Rhea County and other parts of the six-county district (Roane, Morgan, Fentress, Scott and Campbell counties).

Democrats acknowledge the district leans Republican in national contests, but they point to Sen. Kilby and several Democrat House members as evidence a Democrat can win.

PROMOTING RURAL VALUES

In earlier interviews, Mr. Yager, 61, and Ms. Ruppe, 45, stressed their conservative roots and hard-scrabble beginnings in life as evidence that they reflect the largely rural district’s values.

“I’m the true conservative in this race,” said Mr. Yager, who has been endorsed by Tennessee Right to Life, the National Rifle Association and the Tennessee chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business in Tennessee.

An attorney, he once taught in public school, later becoming county attorney and then running for and getting elected county executive in 1982. He now works as an administrator and assistant professor at Roane State Community College.

Ms. Ruppe said both candidates are “conservative.”

“I’m pro-life. I’m pro gun. I’m against a state income tax. ... There’s not going to be anything he can say that he’s more conservative than I am,” she said.

Ms. Ruppe described how when she was 13, her mother died, leaving her to help care for her father, a disabled and decorated World War II veteran who died just last year, as well as her siblings. She later went to work in a shirt factory

“I didn’t think I had what it took to go to college,” she said.

She married, but her husband was killed in a car wreck, leaving her pregnant and with a 4-year-old daughter. Ms. Ruppe said she worked at a variety of jobs, sometimes without health insurance, and attended Roane State.

Ms. Ruppe said she began her political career helping other candidates such as Sen. Kilby before getting elected to the school board and, in 2004, to the county executive post.

But Mr. Yager said he hasn’t forgotten his own difficult beginnings, including his father’s death when he was 14. He recalled working his way through college as a janitor and cashier. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he earned a master’s degree in education and then attended law school.

“Whoever wins this race could very well affect the direction of the state Senate, whether we want to continue fiscal conservative policies or take a more liberal bent,” Mr. Yager said.

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