The Tennessee Republican Party officially removed three candidates from the state’s primary ballot.
Scott Golden, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, submitted a letter Wednesday notifying the coordinator of elections, Mark Goins, that disqualified 5th Congressional District candidates Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck and Baxter Lee are removed “completely from the Republican August primary ballot.”
The letter included a notification of the full list of candidates in a variety of races that the Tennessee GOP voted to restore to the ballot - a total of 13 - as well as the full list of candidates that the party voted to remove, the Tennessee Star reports.
Morgan Ortagus, Robby Starbuck, and Baxter Lee were permanently removed from the August 4 GOP primary ballot in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District by the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee (SEC) on Wednesday, April 19.
All three had an opportunity to request that the State Executive Committee restore their names to the GOP primary ballot and present their case individually to members of the committee.
However, the 17-member committee denied their requests.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Ortagus and Starbuck’s appeals to be restored were overwhelmingly rejected in separate 13-to-3 votes.
Baxter Lee’s request for restoration was rejected in a 10-to-6 vote.
Ortagus registered to vote in Tennessee in November of 2021 and has never voted in a Tennessee election.
Until April 19th, Starbuck had not voted in any GOP primary in the state of Tennessee. The California native registered to vote in Tennessee in July 2019, but did not vote in either the March 2020 Tennessee GOP presidential preference primary or the August 2020 Tennessee GOP statewide office primary.
Baxter Lee voted in the 2020 Democratic presidential preference primary.
Starbuck told the Tennessee GOP that he will sue them over the results of the vote. Meanwhile, Team Ortagus is evaluating their options.
