Her Law Firm

Served As Counsel

In Florida Recount

For 2000 Debacle

By TOM YANCEY

Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. David Davis, R-1st, of Johnson City, who lost a bid for re-election in last Thursday's Republican primary, said today he has hired a nationally known law firm to look into unspecified voting "irregularities."

Davis lost a close race to Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe, M.D. Barring some unforeseen development, Roe will face the winner of the Democratic primary, Robert "Rob" Russell, of Kingsport, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Davis' statement says Roe's margin in the primary is 460 votes. Local election commissions are in the process of certifying the vote, a process that must be completed within 10 days of the election, or Aug. 18.

Davis has not conceded.

The Greeneville Sun reported Saturday that Davis was "having a constitutional attorney look into whether Democrats voting in the GOP primary violated an obscure state law."

Davis attended a meeting of the Greene County Partnership this morning. In a telephone interview afterward, Davis said his lead attorney will be Jill Holtzman Vogel, whom he said "has a background in Republican politics and in contested races."
According to her Internet site, Vogel is managing partner of Holtzman Vogel PLLC, with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, and Warrenton, Va. She is a member of the Virginia Senate, elected in 2007.

Vogel is former counsel to the U.S. Department of Energy, and served as counsel in the 2000 Florida presidential recount.

Her Internet site says she "specializes in ethics, campaign finance and tax exempt organizations."

Davis said last Friday that he had received "anecdotal reports" about Democrats voting in the Republican primary.

Davis said then that state law prohibits persons who have an "established pattern" of voting in one party's primary from voting in another party's primary.

"If there's not enough evidence to prove that Tennessee law was violated, that election law was broken, then I won't move forward. But we feel very strongly that Republican primary voters were prohibited in having their vote heard."

"Crossover" voting in primary elections is common in Tennessee, which does not require voters to register by party. Most political observers know it has long been the practice, when the outcome of an important primary is not in play in one party, for members of that party to "cross over" and vote for the candidate they would prefer to run against in the other party.

Brook Thompson, the state coordinator of elections, told the Sun last Friday that crossover voting can be challenged by poll watchers on election day, but said he has never seen such a vote challenged "after the fact," that is, after polls close.

Asked about this in a telephone interview on Monday, Davis said the Tennessee Republican Party's executive committee will make the final decision, not Thompson. Davis pointed out that Thompson "is a Democrat who works for the Democat-controlled state Election Commission."

By law, the party that has the majority in the state House of Representatives also has a majority on the state election commission, as well as on county election commissions.

"Right now we're looking at the law," Davis told the Sun on Friday.

Asked which specific code section or sections he thinks were violated, Davis declined to cite them, saying, "We're looking at the entire election law."

Monday evening, Davis issued the following statement:

"Last Thursday, in the 1st Congressional District Republican Primary, the difference between myself and my Republican challenger was only 460 votes, which is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast. Due to such a narrow outcome, we feel that it is very important to take the time to consider whether there may have been any irregularities that may have affected the outcome of this primary election."

The statement continues, "It has come to our attention that there may have been some outside groups who sought to improperly influence the Republican primary. The Republican voters of the First Congressional District know that this Congressional seat is too important to do anything but look at this very closely. My campaign believes we should take an opportunity to explore all of the factual information and options."

A note at the bottom of the statement adds, "If anyone has any information that may help to shed some light on these allegations, or if you have any other information, please contact our campaign office at 423-773-8861."

Davis told the Sun, "This is not about Phil Roe or David Davis," it is "about the integrity of the Republican primary."