Reporter
Sam Stockard is a Nashville-based reporter with more than 30 years of journalism experience as a writer, editor and columnist covering the state Legislature and Tennessee politics for The Daily Memphian.
There are 1058 articles by Sam Stockard :
The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators is only “cautiously optimistic” the State Capitol Commission will vote Thursday to remove the monument of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance confirmed a $22,000 settlement penalty of campaign reporting violations for state Rep. Joe Towns in an effort to avert an open meetings lawsuit.
Gov. Bill Lee is expected to tell the State Capitol Commission he believes the monument should be moved to the State Museum.
With protesters shouting in the halls of the Tennessee Tower, the State Capitol Commission narrowly voted Thursday, July 9, to relocate the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust to the State Museum.
The Tennessee Black Caucus is preparing to challenge the assertion that Nathan Bedford Forrest is a "military hero," which was part of the vote to shift the Confederate general's bust to the State Museum.
Gov. Bill Lee continues to call the COVID-19 pandemic a crisis, but some Memphis lawmakers question his strategy as cases spike. They say he needs to be prepared for another round of spending to help families as the school year starts.
Just moments after Gov. Bill Lee signed an abortion ban into law Monday, July 13, a federal judge blocked the measure from taking effect and set up a court battle with the ACLU-Tennessee.
Three people working in the Legislature have tested positive for COVID-19, possibly including one lawmaker who has tested positive. Plus, a former lawmaker who gave the House prayer June 18 was released from the hospital after testing positive.
The ACLU is asking a Davidson County chancellor to hold the state of Tennessee in contempt of court for violating an absentee ballot order by forcing first-time voters to cast ballots in person.
Gov. Bill Lee is not considering making a statewide mask mandate or shutting down parts of the economy again to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, even as cases surge.
Tennessee leaders are weighing the prospects for a special session to consider a COVID-19 liability immunity bill and several other issues in early August.
Tennessee parents who stay home with children for virtual education are eligible for unemployment and cash assistance, Gov. Bill Lee said this week. But the Department of Labor was unclear on the question.
The Lee Administration is making $115 million in federal funds available to local governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Democratic primary is wide open for the state House District 90 race with veteran state Rep. John DeBerry removed from the Democratic ballot.
The race pits state Rep. Tom Leatherwood, who his says his experience is needed to help steer Tennessee, against challenger Lee Mills, a former Republican Party chairman who calls his opponent a “career politician.”
Gov. Bill Lee is willing to pay the cost, no matter how high, in the legal battle over Tennessee’s new law to block abortions after a Republican-appointed judge stopped the measure from taking effect.
State Sen. Brian Kelsey’s law firm is inserting himself into the state's legal affairs again, getting involved in an absentee ballot battle with a legal brief arguing the Legislature, not the court, should determine the state’s voting laws.
State Rep. London Lamar is hoping a new emergency powers committee she is joining will look at the governor’s executive authority and decisions affecting everything from business closings to education amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though Republican governors are mandating masks and President Donald Trump has begun calling them "patriotic," Gov. Bill Lee continues to decline requiring face coverings statewide.
Gov. Bill Lee Monday, Aug. 3, called a special legislative session for Aug. 10 at which legislators will focus on adopting COVID-19 liability immunity legislation designed to protect small businesses and schools from an outbreak of coronavirus lawsuits.
Gov. Bill Lee's decision to allow high school contact sports such as football and girls' soccer is drawing incredulity and support as the season nears.
Gov. Bill Lee, faced with opening schools in the midst of a pandemic, promised more “transparency” Tuesday, Aug. 4, on reporting COVID-19 cases in schools but declined to say the public will be given case numbers for every school statewide.
Robert Cooper used a line from the Eagles song “Hotel California” to argue that Metro Nashville and Shelby County will be hurt financially by the state’s Education Savings Account program.
An attorney for Memphis plaintiffs challenging the state’s absentee voting law says Tennessee’s elections coordinator is the source of information showing plaintiffs voted in person despite their claims that going to the polls could put them and others at risk for catching COVID-19.