The parties in two Nashville ballot challenges have submitted evidence ahead of a May 2 hearing to determine whether state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) in House District 52 and House District 50 Republican challenger Jennifer Frensley Webb can remain on August primary ballots.
Challengers and candidates were asked to submit evidence by noon Wednesday, with supplemental information due Friday.
The qualification deadline for write-in candidates in the August primaries, which would be an option for Jones and/or Webb if removed from their respective ballots, is June 12.
House District 52
Jones, who otherwise would be the significant favorite to win reelection, turned in 26 qualifying signatures earlier this month, of which the legal minimum of 25 were deemed valid by Nashville election officials. His would-be Republican challenger Laura Nelson has identified 10 of those signatures as potentially invalid. (Jones had not submitted any information in defense of his petition to the election office by the Wednesday deadline.)
Of Jones’ questioned signatories, several are challenged solely based on mismatched signatures or handwriting, though without evidence from a handwriting expert. Those signatures came from Pauline Burokas, Caitlin Boldt, Megan Roggendorff and Laura LeVasseur. Clara Mae Snyder is challenged on similar grounds, while the Nelson camp also cites a lack of evidence of Snyder’s residency on “beenverified.com.” The Nelson camp argues that Melissa Moss was challenged for signature and handwriting matches and also because Moss submitted a typed voter registration form, not handwritten.
Other challenges are more detailed. For Jennifer Bontusa, the Nelson camp alleges that “she spelled her own ‘printed’ name wrong! … This misspelling is indicative of someone else signing her name.” Other challenges repeat the claim, that someone other than the signatories filled out part of the form on their behalf. The Nelson camp also argues that Bontusa’s signature is invalid because she wrote that she lived on Forrest Avenue on her 2021 voter registration application but Forest Avenue on the 2024 petition — but that street’s name was changed from Forrest to Forest last year.
For Jones signatory Adam Sensenbrenner, the Nelson campaign alleges the name is misspelled (as Sensendrenner) and that the handwriting and signatures do not match. Additionally, the Nelson camp cites missing city and state information on the nominating petition. JoRita Justice’s signature is challenged based on a handwriting match, that the signature is in the wrong place, that the signatory literally did not cross a “t” and dot an “i,” plus “the ‘e’ does not curl the same as it appears on the voter card.”
For Jones signatory Mehealani Robert, the Nelson campaign notes a 2004 voter card in which Robert checked a box indicating a past felony conviction, a mark missing from a 2023 card. Davidson County Election Commissioner Jeff Roberts told the Nelson campaign that the 2004 mark was a mistake and the state has no record of a felony conviction for the voter. Still, the Nelson campaign seeks an affidavit confirming that Robert is eligible to vote.
According to a letter sent by the state Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance to Jones, Jones treasurer Joyce Neal informed state regulators she was resigning the post effective April 17. Regulators asked Jones to appoint a new treasurer, though he had not as of Thursday, meaning he is not allowed to accept contributions.
House District 50
Meanwhile, state Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) in House District 50 has challenged the qualifying petition of his would-be Republican challenger, Metro Councilmember Jennifer Frensley Webb.
Webb turned in 31 signatures, and Nashville election officials accepted 26 as valid.
Mitchell, represented by Nashville attorney Jamie Hollin, has hired handwriting expert Dianne Peterson as an expert witness. In an email to the Nashville elections office, Hollin said a written report on the campaign’s allegation is forthcoming.
Webb preemptively defended several of the challenged signatures with signed affidavits. Jeffery Webb (her son), Alan Sipe, Marianne Sipe, Steven McClure and Will Sipe all signed affidavits stating that their petitions’ signatures were their own. Further affidavits from Michelle Armistead and Ian McWilliams state that they have endorsed Webb’s candidacy. However, the Webb campaign could not get a signed affidavit from George Sipe, whom the campaign says has left for boot camp. The Webb campaign notes it plans to have Sipe’s parents sign affidavits on his behalf.