Karen Bennett (Tennessee)
Karen Bennett is a former member of the Nashville Metro Council in Tennessee, representing District 8 from 2007 to 2015. She was term-limited from running again for District 8, so she ran for an at-large seat in 2015. She was defeated in the runoff election on September 10, 2015[1]
Bennett was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Tennessee. Bennett was one of 33 delegates from Tennessee bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention.[2] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.
Biography
Bennett grew up in the Madison neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. She received a bachelor's degree from Belmont University. Her professional experience includes running a small business as a residential real estate appraiser and property manager.[3]
Campaign themes
2015
Bennett's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[4]
Crime
- Excerpt: "Karen is determined to continue the improvement toward a safer area. To better understand the successes and needs of our police, Karen routinely joins officers on patrols throughout the district. As we deal with the issues of gang activity and other concerns, she has been committed to giving our Metro Police the tools they need to keep us safe and will continue that commitment over the next four years."
Zoning
- Excerpt: "The future growth of our community depends on responsible attention to the ways we manage that growth through proper zoning. Changes in the economy make this a pivotal time to spur growth in Madison, Inglewood, Maplewood and Graymar that encourages opportunity for business to grow and flourish as well as promoting home ownership."
Schools
- Excerpt: "By working with the Davidson County Board of Education, Karen continues this commitment to great schools as a member of the Metro Council. By seeking creative solutions that give our kids the best opportunity to learn, we will encourage young families to move here and make the neighborhoods we love even better."
Elections
2015
The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and metro council on August 6, 2015. A runoff election took place on September 10, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 21, 2015. All 41 metro council seats—including the office of vice mayor—were up for election. In the race for five open at-large seats, candidates included Buddy Baker, Jody Ball, Karen Bennett, Al Carota, Erin Coleman, John Cooper, Elizabeth Dachowski, Adam Dread, Robert Duvall, Leroy Johnny Ellis, Erica Gilmore, Ronnie Greer, Sr., Frank Harrison, Jason Holleman, Martin Holsinger, Phillip Joseph Hostettler, Jr., Walter Hunt, Sharon W Hurt, Ken Jakes, James Keeton, John Lasiter, Don Majors, Lonnell Matthews, Jr., Bob Mendes, Sandra Moore and Jim Shulman. Bennett, Coleman, Cooper, Duvall, Gilmore, Holleman, Hurt, Matthews, Mendes and Shulman advanced to the runoff election.[5] The winners in the runoff election were Cooper, Gilmore, Mendes, Hurt and Shulman.[6] All five at-large incumbents were term-limited.[7]
| Nashville City Council At-large Runoff Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 John Cooper |
14.5% | 56,802 | |
| Erica Gilmore |
12.8% | 49,996 | |
| Bob Mendes |
10.5% | 41,160 | |
| Sharon W Hurt |
9.8% | 38,317 | |
| Jim Shulman |
9.6% | 37,676 | |
| Erin Coleman | 8.9% | 34,877 | |
| Karen Bennett | 8.5% | 33,052 | |
| Lonnell Matthews, Jr. | 8.4% | 32,807 | |
| Robert Duvall | 8.2% | 31,925 | |
| Jason Holleman | 8.1% | 31,763 | |
| Write-in | 0.5% | 2,122 | |
| Total Votes | 223,951 | ||
| Source: City of Nashville Election Commission, "Official runoff election results," accessed October 2, 2015 | |||
| Nashville City Council At-large General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Erica Gilmore |
9.6% | 36,675 | |
| John Cooper |
9.2% | 35,080 | |
| Bob Mendes |
6.5% | 24,581 | |
| Jim Shulman |
5.7% | 21,869 | |
| Sharon W Hurt |
5.3% | 20,086 | |
| Robert Duvall |
5% | 18,877 | |
| Lonnell Matthews, Jr. |
4.7% | 18,064 | |
| Karen Bennett |
4.6% | 17,390 | |
| Jason Holleman |
4.4% | 16,612 | |
| Erin Coleman |
4.3% | 16,557 | |
| Don Majors | 4.3% | 16,214 | |
| Adam Dread | 4.2% | 16,146 | |
| Walter Hunt | 4.2% | 16,090 | |
| Sandra Moore | 3.9% | 14,991 | |
| Buddy Baker | 3.3% | 12,695 | |
| Ronnie Greer, Sr. | 3.3% | 12,454 | |
| Ken Jakes | 3.1% | 11,922 | |
| Frank Harrison | 2.5% | 9,659 | |
| John Lasiter | 2.4% | 9,151 | |
| Elizabeth Dachowski | 2.2% | 8,525 | |
| Phillip Joseph Hostettler, Jr. | 2% | 7,738 | |
| Jody Ball | 1.5% | 5,709 | |
| James Keeton | 1.1% | 4,026 | |
| Leroy Johnny Ellis | 1% | 3,880 | |
| Martin Holsinger | 0.6% | 2,245 | |
| Al Carota | 0.6% | 2,097 | |
| Write-in | 0.4% | 1,374 | |
| Total Votes | 138,291 | ||
| Source: City of Nashville Election Commission, "Official general election results," accessed September 15, 2015 | |||
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
Bennett was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Tennessee.
Delegate rules
Delegates from Tennessee to the 2016 Republican National Convention were elected directly by voters in the state primary election in March and approved by the State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party in April. Delegates from Tennessee to the national convention were bound for up to four ballots. All Tennessee delegates were bound on the first two ballots. On the third ballot, a presidential candidate needed to receive at least 20 percent of the total vote for his or her delegates to remain bound on the fourth ballot. Delegates were to be unbound after the fourth ballot.
Tennessee primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Tennessee, 2016
| Tennessee Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
38.9% | 332,823 | 33 | |
| Ted Cruz | 24.7% | 211,234 | 16 | |
| Marco Rubio | 21.2% | 181,059 | 9 | |
| Ben Carson | 7.6% | 64,855 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 5.3% | 45,258 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 1.1% | 9,548 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.3% | 2,418 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.3% | 2,349 | 0 | |
| Other | 0.2% | 1,849 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 1,254 | 0 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 717 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0.1% | 713 | 0 | |
| Jim Gilmore | 0% | 269 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0% | 257 | 0 | |
| George Pataki | 0% | 189 | 0 | |
| Totals | 854,792 | 58 | ||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
Delegate allocation
Tennessee had 58 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 27 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's nine congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the district vote in order to be eligible to receive any of a district's delegates. If a candidate won more than 66 percent of the vote in a district, he or she received all of the district's delegates. If the winning candidate in a district won between 20 and 66 percent of the district vote, he or she received two of the district's delegates; the second place finisher received the remaining delegate (if the second place finisher did not meet the 20 percent threshold, all three delegates were allocated to the first place finisher). If no candidate met the 20 percent threshold in a district, the top three finishers each received one of the district's delegates.[8][9]
Of the remaining 31 delegates, 28 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the statewide primary vote in order to be eligible to receive any at-large delegates. If a candidate won more than 66 percent of the statewide primary vote, he or she received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[8][9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Karen + Bennett + Nashville"
- All stories may not be relevant due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Nashville, "Bennett," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ TN GOP, "TNGOP Confirms Final Slate of 2016 Convention Delegates," April 2, 2016
- ↑ Elect Karen Bennett, "About Karen," accessed July 23, 2015
- ↑ Elect Karen Bennett, "Issues," accessed July 23, 2015
- ↑ City of Nashville Election Commission, "Official general election results," accessed September 15, 2015
- ↑ City of Nashville Election Commission, "Official runoff election results," accessed October 2, 2015
- ↑ City of Nashville, "Davidson County Election Commission," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Nashville Metro Council, District 8 2007 – 2015 |
Succeeded by Nancy VanReece |
 |
State of Tennessee Nashville (capital) |
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