State Sen. Rusty Crowe hasn’t faced a challenger in the Republican primary in more than two decades, but 60-year-old Johnson City businessman Dan Pohlgeers is planning to change that.
Pohlgeers picked up a petition last week, Thursday, to run as a Republican for Senate District 3, which includes Carter, Johnson, and Washington counties. He has until Tuesday at noon to qualify for the August 6 GOP primary.
The last time the Republican primary for the District 3 seat was competitive was 2002, when incumbent Crowe won 60% of the vote to defeat Kevin Cole.
Crowe was first elected to the Senate in 1990 and has won every election since. He is the second-longest-serving active member of the Senate behind Lt. Gov Randy McNally, who announced last week that he would not seek re-election.
Pohlgeers is currently a medical practice consultant, assisting physicians with administrative functions and helping them understand how state legislation could impact them or their patients. Before that, he was an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist for about 20 years.
The fight over who will succeed McNally as Lt. Governor is expected to be close between State Senators Jack Johnson and Paul Bailey. A few changes in the composition of the GOP Senate Caucus could clearly impact that selection. Republicans currently have a 27 to 6 majority over Democrats in the state Senate and that number is not expected to change. 14 votes in the caucus essentially elect the next Speaker/Lt Governor. With McNally’s retirement, there will be at least one new state senator, almost certainly a Republican. With Crowe being challenged, and with popular Dickson County Mayor Bob Rial weighing a challenge to State Senator Kerry Roberts, there could be two other new faces in the Republican caucus come November.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.
Author
