Tennessee Senate's 5 Democrats jockeying for 4 leadership posts

photo Thelma Harper
Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

NASHVILLE - In Tennessee's incredible shrinking state Senate Democratic Caucus, it seems almost everybody can be a leader.

It's followers who are in short supply.

After losing two seats in the Nov. 4 election, the once-mighty Democrats now hold just five seats in the 33-member chamber. The Republicans, meanwhile, expanded the supermajority that gave them absolute control of the Senate.

Now the five Democrats - two veterans and three freshmen - have to sort themselves among the four elected caucus leadership positions. That leaves just one lone senator to be the follower of all that leaderly authority.

Virtually no one is saying publicly what positions they're seeking.

The undisputed top dog of the caucus is the minority leader, who speaks for his or her party and thus gets a guaranteed - if dim, compared to the Republicans' center-circle basking - place in the spotlight. The other positions are caucus chairman, which involves heading meetings of Democrats and being in charge of campaigns; vice chairman, and secretary/treasurer.

Who will sit where apparently is still being worked out.

Senior caucus member Thelma Harper, of Nashville, set Nov. 17 for caucus elections but then skipped her own meeting. So did the other legislative veteran, Sen. Reginald Tate, of Memphis.

The three freshmen - Lee Harris and Sara Kyle, of Memphis, and Jeff Yarbro, of Nashville - dutifully reported, waited two minutes for Harper and Tate, and then adjourned, saying they hoped to reconvene by telephone with them on Tuesday.

That didn't happen.

And, amid intense speculation that at least two want the top position, Yarbro and Harris last week sidestepped reporters' questions about whether they were seeking the leader's post or the No. 2 slot, caucus chairman.

"In a caucus of five people, everybody's going to be in leadership," Yarbro said. "That's the reality."

Said Harris: "There are a whole lot of ways to move Tennessee forward."

Sara Kyle, a former Tennessee Regulatory Authority chairman, is the wife of former Democratic leader Jim Kyle, who left the Senate to run for a local judgeship. She also was vague on what post - if any - she is pursuing.

There's talk that Tate may want to be caucus leader - he challenged Jim Kyle for the post two years ago but lost. This week, he wasn't available to discuss his ambitions.

In a five-person caucus, just three votes make a majority. Some Republicans are wondering whether the three freshmen have an agreement and are waiting for the meeting to make it official.

But nobody really knows except the Democrats involved.

One of those Democrats, though, is outright professing no interest in the minority leader post - or any post, for that matter.

"Listen," Harper said in an interview Tuesday. "I made it very clear. I'm not running for anything. I've paid my dues."

So what are the others running for?

"Whatever they want, it's up to them," Harper said, laughing. "I haven't asked for anything. Just let them decide, and all they've got to do is vote for each other."

She has scheduled another meeting for Tuesday.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at 615-255-0550 or asher@timesfreepress.com.

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