As elections near, candidates in the 13th and 17th District races for the state Legislature stake their claims

by Betty Bean

Word this summer was that Harry Tindell was in big trouble. Democrats were worried about the vigorous campaign being waged by his Republican opponent. Republicans were downright exultant about their candidate, Jim Cortese. Word was things looked bad for the 13th District incumbent.

Near-West and South of the River in the 17th District, another GOP newcomer was looking strong. GOP internecine trouble (mainly with County Commissioner Howard Pinkston and Sheriff Tim Hutchison) seemed to have been smoothed over, and Jamie Hagood's support of defeated Clerk Lillian Bean didn't appear to have eroded her chances. Finances were becoming an issue, too, with Democrat Robert Bratton, a just-retired two-term County Commissioner, having trouble raising funds, while the smart money—tons of it—was on Hagood.

But it's fall now, and Tindell says there are some advantages to the perception that he's got a tough opponent.

"People always get worried about me in August," says Tindell. "I've always rooted for the underdog, so it's not a bad position to be in...And I've probably gotten more help this time than I ever have before...People expect it to be a good race."

And Bratton, always a vigorous campaigner, shows signs of picking up momentum. Pinkston, along with Bratton's County Commission successor Larry Clark, made a highly visible visit to a recent Bratton fund raiser, despite having signed a lukewarm endorsement letter for Hagood. And Sheriff Tim Hutchison's main man Dwight Van de Vate supports Bratton openly and enthusiastically.

"I'm gonna beat the governor and his hand-picked West Tennessee candidate," says Bratton. "The only way they are going to beat me is if this office can be bought..."

Contrary to the August scuttlebutt, hardly anybody's talking Republican blowouts in either race anymore. October talk is the Democrats are making it a horserace.

Thirteenth District

Four years ago, Jim Cortese took his son John to the Legislative Plaza and dropped by the office of their state representative, Harry Tindell.

He wasn't in, so they waited around awhile.

Tindell, a Democrat, had a little ceramic donkey on his desk, which three-year-old John picked up and proceeded to break the ears off. Cortese wrote a confession note on the back of a business card and left it for Tindell. He says he never heard back.

"Harry and I have laughed about that since then," says Cortese, who is the GOP nominee against Tindell in November.

He uses the anecdote to segue into the main theme of his campaign.

"That was my only experience with him. People feel like he is never around."

Same song, different verse, says Tindell, who stuck the earless donkey in a desk drawer pending Super Glue treatment.

"I don't know how effective or interesting that campaign strategy is," says Tindell, a former Knox County school board member who is seeking his fifth term in the state House. "Joe Burchfield (a former opponent whom Tindell unseated in 1990 after Burchfield had served a half term in office) tried that four years ago. I don't know what that means, exactly. I've been to countless meetings since the session ended, and he's not at most of them either... 'Where's Jim' might be the real question..."

The 13th House District in North Knoxville is mostly working class neighborhoods sprinkled with historic districts and pockets of poverty. Its boundaries are contained entirely within the city. The district is predominantly Democratic, and in 1996, Tindell, who comes from a politically-active family, handily beat back a challenge from an energetic Republican candidate.

But Cortese, who has long lived in the Fourth and Gill neighborhood, has built a solid reputation as an activist on issues of historic preservation and environmental concerns. A UT graduate in forestry management, he is a vocal booster of downtown development and is the owner of Cortese Tree Service, which is located in the neighborhood just a block from his home. (Cortese is also the employer of State Rep. Bill Dunn, one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly.)

Cortese is popular with his left-of-center neighbors, although they may have some misgivings about some of his views.

"I don't necessarily disagree with Jim Cortese's politics as it regards local issues," says Barbara Simpson, a certified public accountant who both lives and works in Fourth and Gill. "I disagree with Jim's politics as it regards national issues. He's fairly right-wing when it comes to those kinds of issues. But when it comes to local issues, we generally fall on the same side of things... It would be nice to have someone at the state level who is a little more progressive in his thinking about neighborhood preservation, environmental issues... That's my dilemma. I personally like him..."

Simpson, who gave Cortese a $50 donation, says Tindell isn't much of a presence, as far as she can tell, and worries that he might be "just plain lazy."

On the other hand, she is an adamant supporter of abortion rights, and says Tindell's pro-choice stance could persuade her to vote for him.

"I wonder, what is Harry doing, but I'm worried about Jim's views on abortion, an issue I fear is going to raise its ugly head again this year. This really faces me with a dilemma."

Cortese says Simpson shouldn't worry.

"I'm probably the single person who'll be your best friend in the Legislature," he says. "The rubber hits the road at practicality. I do not consider myself a threat to anybody. I consider myself a friend. You can talk to me about anything... My request is that people take a chance on me. I have principles, but I'm not a radical crusader."

When asked if he could be accurately described as a "green" Bill Dunn, he mulls the question over before answering.

"Bill Dunn is a little more excitable and hyper than I am. He's more of a 24-hour-a-day man. I like to sleep at night. I am calm, not excitable, and am at my best when I'm in adverse situations. I simply promise to be a more visible, more pro-active representative for this district and this city. I love it here. I am bullish on the 13th District."

Tindell, a low-key, quiet 37-year-old, says there is a huge bloc of undecided voters this year.

"I have a secret weapon," he says. "When people hear my message, they agree with me.

"If I were going to boil it down, I'd say the major issue is education—helping out the neighborhood schools. And I've been known for helping the schools. I've worked very hard to make the schools better—smaller classrooms, better technology, better equipment. I've tried, with discretionary funds, to give Fulton High School money—almost $70,000 in the last 3 years for technology...

"My opponent, in contrast, supports ideas like school vouchers. It's just a scheme that's going to break Knox County's schools. It could take $25 million out of the schools. How in the world are you going to pay for it?"

Cortese seems to be backing away from his early support of vouchers, saying that any such program should be limited.

Tindell serves on the Finance, Educational Oversight and State and Local Government Committees, and lives in the North Hills section of the district. He doesn't sound overly concerned about his prospects for re-election.

"I'll just let the voters make a decision based on what I've done and stood for in the past," he says.

He says Cortese is "... from one of the more open-minded, liberal neighborhoods in the district. Fourth and Gill has always been one of my strongest precincts in the past. I have lots of friends there and I'm not sitting here worried about it..."

He is banking on voters opting for the more experienced candidate.

"I'm going to be one of the more senior people in the Knox County delegation. And we are well-served by having a balance of Republicans and Democrats. Next year, Knox County will have one of the more junior delegations, and we don't need to go back to being one-sided (mostly Republican). When you look at the numbers in the House and Senate, we are well-served by having a balanced delegation."

That sounds like standard boilerplate to Cortese, who ways he doesn't intend "to be a state representative for the rest of my life. Harry has had eight years, and what he has shown me is that these city neighborhoods need more pro-active representation. Harry's a nice guy, but we need someone who is committed. If we do the right thing now, there's going to come a day when these neighborhoods are considered gold mines."

Tindell, who has performed exceptionally well in recent debates, seems unworried.

"I'm sure Jim Cortese's an honorable person and would do an honorable job. I'm not Mr. Excitement, but I think he will be less effective than I could be by far."

Seventeenth District

Robert Bratton is a 35-year-old, two-term South Knox County Commissioner who defeated well-known Republicans both times he ran. (He lost a primary race for this same legislative seat to Democrat Wayne Ritchie in 1992.) He is married to Mary Anne Bratton and has two children. He works at Child and Family Services. He has a reputation for being a tenacious opponent who'll hang onto issues 'til it thunders. He is rough around the edges, often rubbing those on the other side the wrong way.

"I'm a hell-raiser," he concedes. "I want to go to Nashville and be a thorn in the governor's side, as he tries to do things like dismantle the mental health system and privatize prisons. You think my opponent will go against him on anything? That is a pitiful campaign I'm running against."

"Pitiful?"

His opponent, Jamie Hagood, is a 26-year-old recent UT law school graduate from the prestigious West Tennessee community of Germantown. She says she specializes in estate planning and practices law in the office of her husband, Jeff Hagood, a well-known Knoxville lawyer. She is attractive, articulate, and massively-funded, with donations coming from some of the city's most prominent citizens. Thus far, she has outspent Bratton about three to one. This is her first run for political office, although she is no stranger to elections, having served in student government and as president of her sorority at UT.

She says she is running for office because she believes in public service and that she sees the role of government differently than does Bratton.

"Philosophically, we're different. I believe that families know better how to spend their money than government does."

She aims her most pointed attacks at Bratton's 1995 vote to raise county property taxes. That budget also included a pay raise for commissioners.

"I never would have voted myself a 24 percent pay raise," Hagood says. "Philosophically, we are different."

The district is around 43 percent Republican to 34 percent Democrat by some measures, although state GOP literature claims 58 percent Republican voters. Democrat Wayne Ritchie held the seat for three terms, and Republicans have set a high priority on taking it back. Gov. Don Sundquist has made personal visits to twist the arms of local GOP leaders like Hutchison and Pinkston for Hagood, and some Republicans, who want to remain anonymous, complain that the state party's leadership is paying an inordinate amount of attention to this race, at the expense of others.

One prominent Republican submits a large GOP brochure from the Tennessee Republican Party as evidence. In a section called "Election Preview," the 17th District race is the only Knoxville contest cited, despite the fact that other local GOP candidates have contested races as well.

Bratton had no primary opposition, but Hagood won a squeaker against Paul Crilly, a UT engineering professor who found himself accused of "double-dipping" by putting himself in a position to collect a salary as a legislator as well as his UT pay.

Hagood says she had nothing to do with the allegations, and that "Paul brought that up himself."

Crilly, however, says he called Hagood after he started hearing about a "push poll" in South Knox. (Push polls seek to influence results by conveying negative information about the opposition.)

"I don't know how that started," says Crilly, who calls himself a "Wal-Mart Republican."

"When I went door-to-door in South Knoxville, people were saying, 'Are you the guy that's going to be a double dipper?'"

Crilly did some investigating, and found out the calls were being made by a company called Action Access, but he hasn't been able to find out who paid for them. No such payments appear on the Hagood disclosure forms.

"They were asking 'Are you going to vote for Jamie Hagood, or are you going to vote for the guy that's going to double dip? This nice person, or Atilla the Hun?'

"So I call up Jamie Hagood and I say, 'You know I can't do this. It's a matter of state law. I have to take a leave of absence.' I said I want to be able to support whoever wins. She said she had nothing to do with that. I believed her and I still believe her. But I think that really cost me the election. I lost by 400 votes. If I had another 200 my way, I would have won."

Who does he think was responsible?

"I heard the Democrats had done that..."

Bratton (who was known to be encouraging votes for Crilly in the primary) hoots at this contention.

"All you have to do is ask yourself one question," he says. "Who benefits?"

Hagood maintains that she was not responsible for the push poll.

"That was Mr. Crilly talking about that."

Crilly has a Hagood sign in his yard.