Tennessee House passes candidate residency requirement bill at odds with Senate version
The Tennessee House on Monday passed a bill to bar newcomers to the state from running for congressional office, but the chamber voted to delay the requirements until after Election Day.
The House bill is now at odds with a Senate version of the legislation, which would take immediate effect after the bill was signed into law.
The legislation bubbled up this session after an aggressive redistricting process altered Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, leading to an increasingly crowded Republican primary that includes at least two relative newcomers to the state. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, announced he would not seek reelection after legislative Republicans divided Nashville, opening up the longtime Democratic stronghold to a Republican flip.
The Senate, which passed its version on a bipartisan vote earlier this month, will now have a chance to approve the House amendment or not. If the chambers can't agree on the effective date, the bill could fall back to a committee to debate.
More: Tennessee legislation to bar newcomers from primary races passes Senate
Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, sponsored the initial legislation to hold primary candidates in U.S. House and Senate races to the same residency requirements state lawmakers must meet, which include Tennessee residency for at least three years "immediately preceding the election."
The Senate version could particularly target Morgan Ortagus, a Florida native and former State Department spokesperson who announced her candidacy for the district after moving to Nashville in 2021. Ortagus received an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Dave Wright, R-Corryton, sponsored the House version of the bill, which included the amendment to delay its effectiveness until after Election Day, exempting incumbents or new members elected before Nov. 9, 2022.
The House version would leave the current Republican primary in the 5th undisturbed.
More: Legislator takes aim at Tennessee transplant congressional candidates with new bill
In an odd twist, Wright said Monday he supported the Senate the version and wished the House would conform with it.
"That's what I support, and that's what I want the House to support," Wright said.
The House bill also requires candidates to have been a resident in the district they seek to represent for at least three years prior to election, though the legislation does not outline how candidates might reconcile district residency with shifting redistricting borders.
Legislative attorneys have warned the legislation is ripe for a constitutional challenge, as previous states have tried and failed to institute residency requirements for congressional offices.
Congressional candidates and members of Congress are only required to live in the state they represent.
Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee House passes candidate residency bill at odds with Senate
