GOP CONGRESSMAN LOSES PRIMARY IN TN; OTHER TENNESSEE RESULTS.

FREE SPEECH ZONE. With the Olympics starting on Friday, it means most political news will take a back seat for a little while. The Obama family is going off on vacation, and I'd guess that John and Cindy McCain will also sneak off for a little down time. Unless some major political news breaks, I'm just going to post daily open threads until the end of the games.

TENNESSEE. Thursday's primary in the Volunteer State saw another congressional incumbent defeated. In CD-1, former Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe defeated freshman Congressman David Davis in the GOP primary by vote of 50.2% to 49.2% -- and a slim margin of exactly 500 votes. A third candidate captured 0.6% and 325 votes. It was a rematch from the 2006 primary, when Davis edged Roe after several others from Roe's part of the district split his base. A third rematch in 2010 already seems likely. As for November, the seat is so reliably Republican that no Democrat has won it in over 130 years. In CD-7, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R) defeated Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood by a 2-to-1 margin. In CD-9, freshman Congressman Steve Cohen (D) won a surprisingly easy victory over attorney Nikki Tinker. Cohen, who is white, was expected to face a highly competitive Dem primary challenge his largely African-American district. Tinker was one of several black challengers two years ago who split the black vote, which enabled Cohen to win in the 2006 primary by a very slim plurality. On Thursday, by contrast, Cohen defeated Tinker by a 79% to 19% vote. In the US Senate race, former State Democratic Chair Bob Tuke defeated six rivals in his primary and will next face incumbent Lamar Alexander (R) in November.

Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 08.08.08