Bona Fide
By Sean Evans, Chair and Professor of Political Science
Mar 26, 2026 -
If the Tennessee Republican Party used its current bylaws in 2016, Donald Trump would not have qualified as a “bona fide” Republican. In fact, probably all of the 149 county candidates and 40 state candidates for office that the state party declared were not “bona fide” Republicans this year have greater Republican credentials than Trump did in 2016.
At one time, all candidates had to do was file a petition for candidacy with the required number of signatures to run for office. But as ideologues took over the state party, the Republican state party executive committee changed party rules because they did not trust Tennessee voters to make the “right” decisions.
About ten years ago, the party adopted rules that candidates had to vote in two of the last four statewide Republican primaries or have local Republicans vouch for the candidate’s bona fides. In 2017, the state party increased the voting threshold to three of the last four statewide primaries.
Then, in 2020, Eddie Mannis won a Republican State House primary by 99 votes. His opponent challenged his bona fides because Mannis contributed to Democrats and voted in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. However, the party chair vouched for him based on letters of support from Congressman Tim Burchett, Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs, and State Senator Richard Briggs.
Since then, the party has added requirements for party involvement, eliminated the vouching provision, banned candidates who voted in Democratic primaries, and placed the appeal of disqualification in the hands of the relevant state executive committee members and state party chair.
But limiting candidates was not enough. In 2018, the Republican State Executive Committee passed a resolution calling for a closed primary. Yet, Tennessee has a semi-open primary because it lacks formal party registration. Since then, the party has used the requirement that primary voters be “bona fide” Republicans to challenge the votes of some Tennesseans and threaten them with prosecution because they aren’t “real” Republicans.
While these actions are legal because political parties have First Amendment rights to freedom of association (California Democratic Party v Jones, 2000), they are not wise. Politics is about arithmetic. The more voters you add, the more successful the party is. However, the Tennessee Republican Party is discouraging Tennesseans from running for office and voting in GOP primaries.
Many Republican activists fear moderates, Independents, and Democratic voters will vote in Republican primaries because the Republican primary winner is the de facto winner in our one-party state. If they vote in large enough numbers, Tennesseans may nominate someone less conservative than the activists.
This argument has multiple problems. First, Republican primary voters have shown no indication of nominating moderates. Since the 2010 elections, Shor and McCarty’s state legislative ideological scores show the median Republican state legislator is to the right of members of the House Freedom Caucus, the most conservative, anti-establishment group in the U.S. House.
Second, Independents and Democrats who vote in Republican primaries are in the process of switching parties. The simple process of saying I want a Republican ballot is a major psychological step in this transition. Using Tennessee presidential exit polls from 2000 to 2016, Democrats and Independents who voted in the Republican primary chose the same candidate as self-identified Republicans. These are not voters supporting moderates but voters aligning with the GOP.
Third, Tennessee Democrats dominated Tennessee state and local politics through 2008 because Independents and Republicans voted for the most conservative Democrat in the primary. Consequently, Tennesseans distinguished between state Democrats and the national party, allowing Democrats to win state and local offices and pass Democratic policies into the 2000s.
In the early 1970s, state Democrats intentionally rejected the policies Republicans have adopted. If Democrats adopted these policies, liberals would have controlled the party, but Republicans would have taken control of the state decades earlier. Since the Republican state legislature is much more conservative than even Republican primary voters, they are probably shortening their reign in Tennessee.
Fourth, new members and prospective officeholders revitalize parties by bringing fresh perspectives, new skills, and new energy. But today, the party sends a clear message of exclusion by creating barriers for citizens to vote and making them wait years to run for office. These hurdles will cause strong potential party members to take their skills and energy elsewhere and lead to weaker future party leaders and candidates.
A party that is not growing is dying. The state GOP would be better off with rules that welcome more Trumps instead of placing obstacles in their way.
This column was submitted to the Jackson Sun on March 26, 2026