Source: Tennessee Democratic Leaders Plan to Take Iraq Vet State Rep. John Mark Windle off Ballot

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, reported that TSSN has learned that there is a plot among Tennessee Democratic Party leaders to remove State Rep. John Mark Windle from the Democratic primary ballot after April 7, the deadline for candidates to qualify--because of his support of gun rights.Show more

Making the decision after the April 7 deadline means that Windle would be without options, and would have no choice but to sit out the 2022 election cycle.

Windle was first elected to represent the 91th District in 1990, and during his tenure, he has served as his party's majority leader and as an officer in the Tennessee National Guard. Colonel Windle deployed to Kosovo, and to two combat tours in Iraq. It was during his first tour that the then-major was injured in a mortar attack.

John I. Harris III, a founder and the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, told The Star News Network that there was a time when it was common for Tennessee Democrats to support gun rights.

Now, he said, a small cadre of progressives has taken control of the party's agenda, and it is now vehemently anti-gun rights.