MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee Democrats may well have a better year in the Tennessee Legislature than their slim numbers might suggest, according to a mid-state political scientist.
Commentator and Middle Tennessee State Political Science professor Kent Syler notes Democrats are outnumbered 3 to 1 in the Tennessee House and by more than 5 to 1 in the state Senate.
Syler says that while Republican Legislators hold a super majority in the 109th General Assembly, set to begin deliberations Tuesday, the party is badly fractured between pro-business moderates and conservatives with Tea Party leanings.
“It’s really going to be moderate Republicans against very conservative Republicans, with the Democrats potentially playing the tie-breaker, especially in the house.”
Syler says you’re likely to see that dynamic at work early in the session on at least two key issues: the fate of Common Core education standards and Governor Haslam’s Medicaid expansion plan.
Haslam has already admitted he’ll need the vote of every Democrat in the Assembly to get his Medicaid initiative passed.