Led the Fight - Sep. 18, 2024

JACK JOHNSON: There was a rumor that started to circulate that the Tennessee General Assembly was considering implementing a state income tax.

MAE BEAVERS: Lo and behold, we ended up facing a Republican governor proposing a state income tax.

DONNA BARRETT: So not only were we battling the Democrats in that issue, we're battling our own chief leader.

BEN CUNNINGHAM: It was one of those betrayals for the ages. Governor Don Sundquist had served one term, he was running for reelection, he had promised during the election that he would not implement a state income tax.

JOHNSON: Keep in mind: at this time, Democrats controlled everything in this state.

CUNNINGHAM: Sundquist’s attitude was classic. I mean he was classic, arrogant liberal. he immediately converted from a conservative Republican to an arrogant liberal overnight.

JOHNSON: There were some protests, and people started organizing, and wanted to make their voices heard. And of course, a leader in that effort was then-state senator Marsha Blackburn.

CUNNINGHAM: The news media wasn't going to give us any coverage, Don Sundquist was in the tank for an income tax, and so what do we do? Well, we had to go down there and start protesting. and Phil Valentine came down and set up his radio show, got the word out. Marsha would communicate with Phil, Phil would communicate with us – the folks that were in the grassroots down there.

BEAVERS: I'm sure they were irate about what we were doing. I mean we were going around, and going to the news media, and letting them know what was going on behind closed doors. And they did not like it.

JOHNSON: We're at home on a Saturday, and just working around the house, and we had the talk radio station on in the background. All of a sudden, Marsha Blackburn comes on with Phil Valentine and says that the General Assembly is going to have a very rare, unusual weekend session to vote on a state income tax. And she said, “we need people to get down here”, so my wife and I loaded up our daughter, who's a few months old at the time, and we headed down to the capital. And there were thousands of people down there. And it was because of Marsha Blackburn. She knew that the people of Tennessee did not want a state income tax.

BARRETT: As we were going around to rallies during campaign season, Marsha would get on stage and had this unimaginable amount of energy that you had no choice but to follow. She was right on the issues, she had the people's support.

CUNNINGHAM: Marsha was one of the people who really understood what was at stake, and she communicated it to us, and all the people out there protesting what was at stake.

JOHNSON: And there were hundreds, if not thousands of cars just driving down the street, honking their horn. So to be there, and to be a part of that, to really see democracy in action, it was very, very exciting.

BARRETT: You couldn't help but be inspired by it. It's almost like they picked you up and carried you.

JOHNSON: And when you think about Marsha Blackburn, and the courage it must have taken for her to stand up to a governor of her own party, and the leadership of the Senate, the chamber which she served, and the leadership of the House.

BEAVERS: We had some people that felt so much pressure that they were taking them out on stretchers.

CUNNINGHAM: Marsha understood the importance of the moment like nobody else. And how absolutely critical it was that we come out there and we stop it.

JOHNSON: It showed me that you can make a difference. And that's something that Marsha Blackburn taught a lot of us who were passionate and wanted to be involved. You can make your voice heard. and she told us how to do it, where to come, and we did it, and thousands and thousands of other people did it as well. And ultimately, despite the efforts of the Democratic control of the general assembly, and a governor that was pushing a state income tax, Marsha Blackburn made sure it didn't happen.