Tenn. Congressional Candidate Robby Starbuck Wins His Challenge Against State GOP

The Tenn. GOP Executive Committee voted against Robby Starbuck as a Congressional Candidate.

Tennesean reports.

On Tuesday, the Tennessee Republican Party voted to eliminate three potential congressional candidates from the primary ballot for the 5th Congressional District. This included a Trump-backed candidate whose campaign upset some insiders.

Morgan Ortagus, Baxter Lee and Robby Starbuck were voted off the primary ballot by the party’s executive committee, Tennessee Republican Chairman Scott Golden confirmed Tuesday

Official challenges were filed by Republican officials against three of them last week, which led to a technical exclusion from the election per party’s bylaws.

Starbuck chose to fight back, contracting civil rights and constitutional attorney Harmeet Dhillon’s Liberty Law Center firm to challenge this decision. Jen Van Laar, our Managing Editor, reported that Dhillon filed evidence preservation notices with the 17 Tenn. RNC executive board members who made the decision to remove him from the primary ballot. Starbuck also chose to use the vouching letters method to prove his “bona fide Republican” status according to the requirements of the Tennessee GOP bylaws:

Since Starbuck hasn’t lived in Tennessee long enough to have voted in three of the last four Republican primaries, he had to go the vouching route. Starbuck presented 14 vouching letter to the committee. According to Scott Golden (TRP Chair), this is the most letters Starbuck has ever received.

Starbuck provided additional information regarding his voting history, starting in California when Starbuck was born.

Starbuck voted for the 2020 General Election as well as in a primary election in 2022, Tennessee. To prove that he had voted regularly in California, Starbuck provided the county party chairs with his California voter history prior to April 19, he stated. He also gave to the two counties Republican parties as well as the state party. Additionally, he organized a rally for support of the Williamson County Republican Party’s 2020 candidates.

There were suspicions and speculation about the abrupt, secretive, and sudden removal of Starbuck and Ortagus from the ballots.

According to the Court, Plaintiff is entitled to a temporary injunction regarding his claim under Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The Court found that Defendant had violated TOMA. According to Tenn. R. Civ., this satisfies Tenn. R. Civ.’s likelihood of success factor. P. 65.04. The Court also concluded that Mr. Starbuck would suffer irreparable injury if he had to stay off the ballot because he was expelled from it through an illegal procedure.

Chancellor Russell T. Perkins ultimately ruled that the Tenn. GOP violated Tennessee’s open meeting law in making their decision to remove the three from the ballot:

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨Our client is ordered by a Tennessee court @robbystarbuckAs a candidate in the TN-5 congressional election, he was reinstated to the ballot! TNGOP was found to have violated the open meeting law. Accordingly, its secret meeting that selected other-qualified candidates from the ballot was null. pic.twitter.com/0h9H5sLVnY

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) June 4, 2022

Starbuck’s name must now be restored to the ballot for the August 4, 2022 Tennessee primary. Starbuck took an honorable victory lap and showed his readiness to continue fighting until he gets to Washington D.C.

BREAKING! WE DID IT! We won our case in court! Court has given instructions @TNGOPTell the state they have wrongfully decided to remove me from the ballot! Tennessee desperately needs a fighter, and I have proven through my tireless pursuit of Justice that I will be that fighter! pic.twitter.com/GucSN72I8j

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 4, 2022