Tom Leatherwood

Tom Leatherwood (born August 20, 1956) is an American politician serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives from Tennessee's 99th house district, since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The 99th district includes the Northeast part of Shelby County, Tennessee, including the Town of Arlington, City of Lakeland, City of Millington, parts of North and East Bartlett, and unincorporated Northeast Shelby County.[1]

Tom Leatherwood
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 99th district
Assumed office
January 8, 2019
Preceded byRon Lollar
Personal details
Born(1956-08-20)August 20, 1956
Germantown, Tennessee, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Melissa
Children5
ResidenceArlington, Tennessee
OccupationFormer School Teacher

Background and Education

Leatherwood was born in Memphis, Tennessee on August 20, 1956. Leatherwood graduated from the University of Memphis with a B.S. in Geology in 1979. After graduation, he worked in the oil exploration industry. He decided to backpack through 25 countries around the world. His trip lasted fourteen months.[2] After returning from the backpacking trip, he decided to become a teacher. He received his teaching certificate from Middle Tennessee State University. He then taught high school in Millington, TN for eight years.

He is married to Melissa and has five daughters.

Political History

Tennessee State Senate

In 1992, Leatherwood challenged popular Republican Senator Leonard Dunavant for the Tennessee Senate in District 32.[3] According to the Nashville News, "Leatherwood said he ran against Dunavant simply because Dunavant sponsored a bill to impose a state income tax during former Gov. Ned McWherter’s administration." [4]

Leatherwood was the victor in the election and attributes much of the success due to his opposing of the income tax in the state.

Though he ran on defeating the state income tax, people closely involved with the movement were very skeptical of his real motives. Steve Gill, a leader in the anti-tax movement was quoted as saying,

"I don't know him. Don't know that I have ever met him. And if he was fighting AGAINST the state income tax during the Sundquist years it is news to me. He was apparently one of those guys hiding in back rooms meeting with the advocates of an income tax trying to find a "middle ground" as I recall. Those were the Republicans that were secretly BACKING the tax, not opposing it. If he can't be honest about that little piece of history, I have a hard time believing anything else he is saying. When he appeared on the show a while back he actually attacked the tax protesters who really did stop the income tax as being "out of control" and essentially unnecessary to the process. If the protesters had not been there, Tennessee would have a state income tax...thanks to guys like Tom Leatherwood."[5]

In 2014, Tennessee passed a Constitutional Amendment banning the state income tax.[6] The amendment was sponsored by Senator Brian Kelsey (Republican - District 31) and Representative Glen Casada (Republican - District 63).

Shelby County Register of Deeds

After leaving the Tennessee Senate in 2000, Leatherwood set his sights on the Shelby County Assessor's Office. He narrowly lost to Democrat Rita Clark in a four-way race.[7]

Soon after his defeat, Leatherwood decided to run in a special election for the Shelby County Register of Deeds. Longtime Register of Deeds, Guy Bates, passed away while in office. This created a special election in November of 2000.[2]

Leatherwood held the Register of Deeds position for 18 years. He won re-election in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. In 2010, term limits (two terms) became effective and Leatherwood was unable to run for Register of Deeds again in 2018.

Because of the term limits, he decided to run for Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk in the 2018 election cycle. He won the Republican primary but lost the general election to the Democrat, Temiika Gipson.[8]

Archiving Problems at Register's Office

In 2005, Leatherwood approached the State Legislature and lobbied to have the law on archiving records changed.[2] The Senate Bill was SB1753 and was sponsored by Senator Curtis Person. The House Bill was HB2064 and sponsored by Representative Beverly Marrero and co-sponsored by Representative Tre Hargett. [9] The House conformed to SB1753 and it was assigned Public Chapter Number 144 by the Secretary of State. [10]

In 2019, newly elected Register of Deeds Shelandra Ford[2] made an unexpected announcement about the archiving of records in Shelby County. In a letter to clerks and other officials she stated, "the previous records retention, maintenance and pulling of records by my office for other elected officials, judges and or the public will cease 30 calendar days from receipt of this letter."[11] In the same letter, Ford stated that the problem was one of, "...critical issue of the storage, maintenance and records retention."

Soon, she came before the Shelby County Commission and asked to hire new employees to alleviate the backlog of archiving. Initially, the Commission rejected her request.[12] However, during the meeting she told those present that the Register's Office had a 14-year backlog and that Leatherwood had not properly overseen the archiving. She was quoted as saying, "...it would take one employee 246 years to scan the backlog of materials from 2005 through 2018. It would take five people 49 years, 10 people 25 years, 20 people 13 years and 50 people five years." [12]

In December 2019, the Shelby County Commission approved $168,412 to hire two full-time employees and three temporary workers.[13]

Ms. Ford said that the backlog of archiving was a "catastrophe" and that fixing the problem, "would take years and not be cheap."[14]

Congressional Campaigns

While Shelby County Register of Deeds, Leatherwood attempted two separate runs for the United States Congress. In 2008, Leatherwood ran for the 7th Congressional District against sitting Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn.[15] The race became heated when Leatherwood sent a letter to supporters accusing Blackburn of illegally using campaign money and, "talking the talk" but not "walking the walk". [16]

A Collierville, TN resident then made a FEC complaint against Leatherwood. The complaint alleged that, "Leatherwood’s advertisements didn’t have him approving the message in his own voice, didn’t disclose who paid for his yard signs, and didn’t show his campaign’s website as an expense on his campaign disclosure reports."[17]

2008 Republican Primary Results[18] 7th Congressional District
Marsha Blackburn 62.0% 30,997
Tom Leatherwood 38.0% 19,025
Total Votes 50,022

In 2016, Leatherwood once again decided to run for Congress. After the 2010 Census, Leatherwood's Congressional District changed from the 7th District to the 8th District.[19] Unlike the 2008 race, the 2016 race had a very crowded primary field. Once Congressman Stephen Fincher announced his retirement, the Republican flood gates opened with potential candidates. In all, thirteen candidates were on the Republican primary ballot. [20]

Leatherwood finished a distant 6th with only 4.3% of the vote.

2016 Republican Primary Results[21]8th Congressional District
David Kustoff 27.4% 16,889
George Flinn Jr. 23.1% 14,200
Mark Luttrell 17.7% 10,878
Brian Kelsey 12.9% 7,942
Brad Greer 11.1% 6,819
Tom Leatherwood 4.3% 2,620
Hunter Baker 1.6% 1,014
Ken Atkins 0.7% 410
Raymond Honeycutt 0.4% 231
George Howell 0.3% 211
David Wharton 0.2% 131
David Bault 0.2% 109
David Maldonado 0.1% 76
Total Votes 61,530


The Educational Savings Account (ESA) Debacle

In 2019, Governor Bill Lee announced that he would be introducing legislation that created Educational Savings Accounts (a.k.a. School Vouchers) in Tennessee. Under his proposal, $7300 of public money would provided to parents who unenroll a student from their school district and allow them to use the funds on private school or other education-related expenses. Parents enrolling in the program would get debit-type card to pay for tuition or the other approved expenses.

The bill was controversial from the start. Public school supporters say that using public funds to fund private education undermines the public education system. Pro-voucher supporters believe that parents with children in failing public schools should be able to send their children to private schools using taxpayer money.

Leatherwood, who is a former high school teacher and whose wife is a current elementary school teacher, originally voted against the bill in the House Education Subcommittee. During the subcommittee meeting he said, "“I am concerned that having these accounts out there could draw some people who aren’t as dedicated or concerned about home schooling as some have been in the past. … It just takes one or two bad cases to tarnish an entity or an institution.” Leatherwood was the only Republican on the subcommittee to vote against the bill. [22]

The bill originally affected three counties in Tennessee; Davidson, Knox, and Shelby.

When the bill came to the floor for a vote, the vote total was 49-49. Speaker Glen Casada took the unprecedented step of leaving the vote open for 40-plus minutes. During that time, Speaker Casada and Governor Lee and his staff allegedly attempted to sway no-voters. Members were seen being taken one-by-one onto the patio behind the Speaker's desk. Eventually, Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) changed his vote with the promise that Knoxville Schools would be removed from the bill. [23] [24]

Leatherwood swapped his vote during the full House Education Committee meeting and voted yes on bill. He also voted yes for the bill during the controversial floor vote. According to The Tennessean, Leatherwood was the recipient of $30,000 in the Governor's amendment budget. [25][26] However, a pro-public education watchdog group reports that Leatherwood received $110K for sidewalks in Bartlett and $30K for creating a cybersecurity classroom at Arlington High School." [27]

In the end, the Educational Savings Account bill passed by a vote of 50-48.[28]

The FBI and TBI are reportedly investigating alleged bribes and kickbacks in return for voting yes on the bill.[29][30][31][32][33][34]

Controversial Airplane Ride

Several months after the controversial vote on Educational Savings Accounts, the Republican Party of Shelby County held their annual Lincoln Day Gala. Governor Bill Lee was scheduled to be the Keynote Speaker. Also on that day, the Tennessee General Assembly held a special meeting to replace Speaker Glen Casada after he was embroiled in several scandals.

Only two Republican Representatives in Shelby County voted for the ESA Bill; Tom Leatherwood and Mark White (R-Germantown). Attention was brought upon the pair when they arrived via airplane with Governor Lee. No other Shelby County Representatives or Senators were on board the airplane.[35][36]

Committees and Subcommittee Assignments[37]
  • Member, Commerce
  • Member, Business Subcommittee
  • Member, Health Committee
  • Member, Mental Health & Substance Abuse Subcommittee

Political Campaigns
  • Tennessee State House of Representatives, District 99, 2019–Present
  • Candidate for Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk, 2018 (Lost)
  • Shelby County Register of Deeds, 2014-2018
  • Candidate for United States House of Representatives, Tennessee, District 8, 2016 (Lost)
  • Shelby County Register of Deeds, 2010-2014
  • Shelby County Register of Deeds, 2006-2010
  • Candidate for United States House of Representatives, District 7, 2008 (Lost)
  • Shelby County Register of Deeds, 2002-2006
  • Shelby County Register of Deeds, 2000-2002
  • Candidate for Shelby County Assessor, 2000 (Lost)
  • Tennessee State Senate, 1996
  • Tennessee State Senate, 1992

Community Involvement[37]

References
  1. "District 99 Map" (PDF). Tennessee Legislature.
  2. "Shelandra Y. Ford, Shelby County Register of Deeds". register.shelby.tn.us. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  3. "Our Campaigns - TN Senate 32 Race - Nov 03, 1992". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  4. Rodgers, John (2008-07-03). "Leatherwood goes after Blackburn on effectiveness, ethics, but faces fund-raising troubles". The City Paper. Nashville. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  5. "He Don't Know Me, He Don't Know My Address". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  6. "Tennessee Income Tax Prohibition, Amendment 3 (2014)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  7. "Our Campaigns - Shelby Co, TN Assessor Race - Aug 03, 2000". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  8. "Election Summary Report" (PDF). Shelby County Election Commission.
  9. "Tennessee General Assembly Legislation". wapp.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  10. "TN Chapter 144" (PDF).
  11. "Register of Deeds Shelandra Ford to stop storing records in 30 days". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  12. "Funding demands for Shelby County Register of Deeds Shelandra Ford still unmet". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  13. "Register of Deeds will get funds to manage records". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  14. "Fixing Shelby County records mess will be a 'costly project'". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  15. Robinson, Carole. "Shelby County's Tom Leatherwood seeks to unseat Blackburn in GOP primary". Williamson Herald. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  16. "Blackburn vs. Leatherwood getting heated already". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  17. "Leatherwood goes after Blackburn on effectiveness, ethics, but faces fund-raising troubles". The City Paper.
  18. "2008 Republican Congressional Primary Results" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State.
  19. "Tennessee's 8th congressional district", Wikipedia, 2019-12-26, retrieved 2020-02-08
  20. "Republican County Totals - 2008 Primary Election" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State.
  21. "Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2016". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  22. "Governor Bill Lee's voucher bill clears first hurdle in Tennessee's legislature". Chalkbeat. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  23. Ebert, Joel. "Pork or politics? Behind the scenes as Tennessee voucher-backers lobbied House members to pass bill". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  24. Mojica/WZTV, Adrian (2019-04-23). "'Judas among us': Passing of Tennessee school voucher bill in House reflects divide". WTVC. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  25. Ebert, Joel. "Latest Lee budget proposal includes funding for freshman lawmakers backing voucher plan". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  26. Ebert, Joel. "Lee administration, Casada boost lobbying effort on education savings account plan". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  27. "Momma Bears Blog". Momma Bears. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  28. "Tennessee House passes Gov. Bill Lee's education voucher bill for the first time, Senate vote to come". Chalkbeat. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  29. "'Suspicions' still dog governor's education savings accounts law". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  30. "FBI investigates controversial voucher vote". WTVF. 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  31. "FBI reportedly investigating Tennessee's voucher vote". WREG.com. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  32. "Not-yet-signed Tennessee voucher bill faces new scrutiny amid report of FBI probe". Chalkbeat. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  33. "FBI now investigating controversial school voucher vote". localmemphis.com. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  34. "Report: FBI investigating controversial Tennessee school voucher vote". WATE 6 On Your Side. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  35. "White, Leatherwood defend flight with governor for GOP event". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  36. "Local 24 News political analyst & commentator Otis Sanford on the TN school voucher bill scandal". localmemphis.com. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  37. "Representative Tom Leatherwood". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
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