NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade, a target of a failed ouster campaign led by Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey last year, says he plans to retire in September.
Wade was the Supreme Court's chief justice when Ramsey last year decided to pour at least $605,000 from his political action committee into trying to defeat him and two other justices appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat.
But supporters of Wade, Connie Clark and Sharon Lee mounted a vigorous campaign to keep the justices, and the normally routine yes-no ballot question about retaining justices turned into one of the hottest races of the year, featuring a blitz of TV ads around the state.
In the end, voters overwhelmingly returned all three to the bench for another eight-year term.