Kurita adverts running in the Nashville market

On the way to work this morning, I heard the end of a radio ad for the reelection of Senator Rosalind Kurita. All I could make out was something about veterans--a good note to sound for her district, to be sure. I looked for an audio file of the ad on her site, but I couldn't find anything.

Kurita's green thumb

Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) received high marks on this year's Tennessee Conservation Voters scorecard. My first question was, "What about her opponent in the primary, Tim Barnes?" But it's a scorecard that assesses the records of legislators; it's not a complete voter guide.

This year’s top-ranked members of the Senate are Senators Raymond Finney R-8 (Blount and Sevier counties), Bill Ketron R-13 (Lincoln, Marshall, Maury and part of Rutherford counties), Rosalind Kurita D-22 (Cheatham, Houston and Montgomery counties), Doug Jackson D-25 (Dickson, Giles, Hickman, Humphreys, Lawrence and Lewis counties) and Steve Roller D-14 (Franklin, Bledsoe, Coffee, Grundy, Sequatchie, Van Buren and Warren counties). The top-ranked Representatives are Mike McDonald D-44 (Sumner county) and Mike Kernell D-93 (part of Shelby county), Gary Moore D-50 (part of Davidson county) and John Mark Windle D-41 (Fentress, Morgan and Overton counties).

There's a mixture of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, but all we have are Democrats at the top in the House. Maybe the Senate is the Senate, after all, as former Lt. Gov. John Wilder would have it.

Sen. Kurita attempts to ban some DUI ads

Sen. Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) is attempting to ban some forms of advertising by lawyers who have DUI defense as part of their practice. Sen. Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) opposed her amendment on federal First Amendment grounds as well as his desire to keep the Legislature out of judicial ethics. The amendment may in part be a shot at her primary challenger, Tim Barnes, a Clarksville attorney who works in DUI defense and other areas.