Elections for the Tennessee House of Representatives will soon take place, with primaries coming up on Aug. 2 and the general election following on Nov. 6.
The Tennessee House includes 99 representatives, all serving two-year terms that will expire in 2018.
Republicans currently hold a 74–25 majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Here’s a look at the upcoming elections in Districts 37 and 48, which cover the Murfreesboro area.
House District 37
When state Senator Bill Ketron announced last year that he would leave the Senate after 16 years in order to focus on his campaign for Rutherford County mayor, State Rep. Dawn White followed suit and vacated her House seat in favor of a bid for Ketron’s former seat. Now, two candidates will fight head to head in November for the open seat.
Charlie Baum
baumforstatehouse.com
Last summer, Rutherford County Commissioner Charlie Baum (R) was the first candidate to enter the race and succeed Dawn White as the representative of House District 37. In addition to serving as a county commissioner, Baum has taught economics at Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Economics and Finance since 1999 and served as the department chair from 2008–14.
First elected to the county commission in 2010, Baum serves on the commission’s Budget, Finance and Investment Committee and chairs the Audit Committee. He currently serves as a member on the boards for the Murfreesboro City Schools Foundation, the Linebaugh Library Foundation and the American Heart Association.
“My career in economics has taught me that we encourage job growth and help small businesses when taxes are low and the size of government is limited,” Baum said on his campaign website. “I would like to continue serving the citizens of our community by promoting conservative economic principles and family values in the state house.”
Deanna Debow Osborne
ddosborne.com
A Rutherford County teacher since 2008, Deanna Debow Osborne (D) has also entered the race to serve Murfreesboro’s House District 37.
A first-generation college graduate, Osborne earned her B.A. in human services and psychology and later her Ed.S. from Middle Tennessee State University, focusing on administration and supervision.
Osborne maintains community involvement with the Tennessee Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, the Murfreesboro Symphony Chorus and Autism Tennessee.
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House District 48
Rep. Bryan Terry (Incumbent)
bryanterry4tn.com
Dr. Bryan Terry (R) first joined the state legislature in 2015 during the 109th Tennessee General Assembly and currently serves as chairman of the House Health Subcommittee and as a member of the House Health Committee and the House Civil Justice Committee.
Terry earned his B.S. in psychology from the University of Oklahoma, graduated from the Oklahoma College of Medicine, and performed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. As a medical intern, Terry cared for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
During his two terms as a state representative, Terry has focused on issues involving health, education, immigration and business regulations.
“As chairman of the House Health Subcommittee, I’ve been leading our state on health-related issues like the opioid crisis, mental health, children’s health, care of our elderly, cannabis extracts, medical transparency, health care costs and improved access,” Terry explained on his website. “I have consistently offered solutions to the health care problems facing Tennessee.”
Matt Ferry
mattferrytn48.com
“Tennesseans should have the right to clean air and water and access to affordable healthcare, education and housing,” Ferry (D) said on his website. “Our society is built on working families and I believe everyone should have the opportunity to work a job that treats them right and provides them with a livable wage and benefits.”
Ferry said that he would like to see Medicaid expanded in Tennessee, and that “wages have been stagnant for decades while the cost of living has exploded. The Republican Supermajority in the General Assembly love to talk about these new job numbers, but they are meaningless if people need to work multiple jobs to survive.”
