By J. Holly McCall | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, Lookout readers:
Poor Frank Strada. The commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Correction just can’t catch a break.
On the heels of a Death Row execution so botched Gov. Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve to inmate Tony Von Carruthers, three state senators decided to pop in and check out the operations of Trousdale Turner Correctionional Center and apparently, Strada was not pleased.
As Senior Reporter Sam Stockard writes this morning, a group of eight Republican senators have now fired off a letter to Lee asking that he undertake an independent review of the attempted Carruthers execution — and they want details on medical personnel and testing of drugs used in the state’s lethal injection protocol before the state attempts to kill another inmate.
In the second of our profiles on Tennessee congressional races, first-time contributor Larry Griffin takes a look at the 1st Congressional District — a hardcore GOP outpost in which a Democrat hasn’t won since Reconstruction — where a trio of Democrats have hopes one of them can replace the Republican incumbent.
THE LOOKOUT’S TOP STORY
A group of Republican senators is asking Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for an independent review of the state’s execution profiles after a failed lethal injection in May. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers)
by Sam Stockard
A group of Tennessee Republican senators is urging the governor to commission an independent review of a failed execution and correct any problems before the state attempts another execution.
NEWS AND NOTES
US Supreme Court deals blow to Trump, ruling states can accept ballots after Election Day | Jonathan Shorman, States Newsroom
Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling | Jonathan Shorman, States Newsroom
FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT
In the 2026 midterm election, three Democrats vie for the nomination in order to have a chance to take on incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger in Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District. (Getty Images)
by Larry Griffin
The race for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional district looks like an underdog story in which three Democrats seek to unseat two-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Kingsport.
FEATURED IN THE LOOKOUT
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton praised the “brilliant mind” of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has collaborated with Sexton to craft a package of anti-immigration legislation. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging a new law that was part of the package. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
by Adam Friedman
Federal Judge Eli Richardson dismissed a challenge to a new Tennessee law that makes it a crime for immigrants without legal status to enter or remain in the state, saying the ACLU and National Immigration Law Center lack standing.
ICYMI
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